QC cops put up ‘green’ Christmas decor

Quezon City police officers are putting up Christmas décor that are made of indigenous and recycled materials.

“We want to encourage the public to help save the environment and support the  clean and green project in our own simple way... (This project) which makes use of recycled and indigenous materials is the first and a one-of-its-kind project in our camp,” said Quezon City Police District director (QCPD) Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula.

He admitted that the project is in response to calls by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and environmental groups to curb waste and pollution as the nation celebrates Christmas.

In a recent visit to Camp Karingal by CBCP public affairs chairman Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, the prelate said Christmas celebrations need not be extravagant as the essence of the season is not found in expensive decor.

The QCPD’s 11 police stations and all its operating units joined the project and adorned trees inside the camp.

One decorated by the District Operations and Planning Division used materials out of recycled cups from a popular fastfood chain.  

A tree adorned by the Directorial Staff, on the other hand, was made out of scraps sold by street children.

The Christmas tree designed by the Office of the District Deputy Director for Operations had trimmings from adjoined tin cans.

Other units used materials they had on hand. The Crime Laboratory used a real skull and trimmings made from actual slugs.

This unit even used the photo of Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on a mascot dressed as a scene-of-the-crime operative.

According to Senior Insp. Dorothy Du, chief of the QCPD-Public Information Office, all the materials used for the decorations will be brought to junk shops for recycling after Christmas.

And since it is a competition, Du told The STAR that Gatdula has even put up a P15,000 prize for the best Christmas tree.

Score sheets filled up by invited students from schools in the city and some representatives from non-government organization Ecological Waste Coalition will determine the winner.

Du said that upon seeing the initiative of the QCPD, the CBCP was “impressed” with the project, which she said is their way of helping the city address the concern about waste disposal.

Rei Panaligan, a coordinator of Eco­Waste Coalition who was present during the judging of the participants last Friday, also praised the project. 

“We are glad with the efforts of the QCPD to connect (the concept of) zero waste to their Christmas celebration... It only shows that the environment is also a concern of the police,” he told The STAR.

Panaligan’s group is calling on the public to refrain from uncontrolled consumerism in what has become the “most wasteful and most energy-consuming festivity in the Christian calendar.”