Black Nazarene feast yields 75 truckloads of garbage—Manila gov’t

Roman Catholic devotees follow the image of the Black Nazarene during a procession to celebrate its feast day Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2017, in Manila. A massive crowd of mostly barefoot Filipino Catholics joined an annual procession of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ under tight security. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

About 75 truckloads of garbage were collected by the Manila City government’s Department of Public Services (DPS) and the Manila Cleanup Task Force during the “Pahalik” and the Traslacion procession of the image of the Black Nazarene this year.

The garbage left by millions of Nazarene devotees in 2018 weighed about 385 tons and filled 75 trucks, according to Manila public information officer Bambi Purisima.

Purisima said this year’s number was bigger than the amount of garbage recorded in 2017, saying it was 11% higher than last year’s 65 truckloads of waste that weighed 341 tons.

However, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) spokeswoman Celine Pialago said they collected 15 truckloads of garbage in their cleaning operation conducted from late Tuesday to early morning of Wednesday.

READ: Black Nazarene devotees leave behind 15 truckloads of garbage

But Purisima disputed her statement: “Wala silang (MMDA) truck ng basura. Sa Maynila po iyon (They don’t have garbage trucks. Those belonged to the Manila city government).”

“Ang humakot at kumolekta ng basura ay DPS at Manila Task Force Cleanup. Wala namang truck ng basura ang MMDA. Naging katuwang lang namin sila sa paglilinis ng mga kalat (The ones collected the garbage are the DPS and the Manila Task Force Cleanup. The MMDA doesn’t have a garbage truck),” he said.

In addition, Purisima said 20 truckloads of garbage were collected during the Black Nazarene’s thanksgiving procession on December 31 and the Nazarene replica procession on January 7.

Among those collected were styrofoam containers, plastic bottles, paper, cardboard cartons, cups, plastic bags, cigarette butts and fish ball and barbeque sticks, the public information officer said.

The cleanup was led by DPS chief Belle Borromeo and Task Force Cleanup Manila head Che Borromeo, according to Purisima.

The “Pahalik” started last Sunday, January 7, at 1:30 p.m. following the procession of the Nazarene replicas, while the Traslacion procession kicked off on Tuesday at 5:07 a.m. and ended on Wednesday at 3:00 a.m.

The Traslacion, known to be one of the world’s largest religious processions, had attracted a multitude of devotees numbering about six million devotees this year, according to the Manila Police District (MPD). /jpv