Keep Nazarene feast waste-free, devotees urged

MANILA, Philippines — Environmental watchdog EcoWaste Coalition and the church-run humanitarian organization Caritas Philippines have made a final appeal to Catholic devotees to observe a waste-free celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene today.

“Caring for our fellow human beings and the environment is an integral part of our devotion to the Black Nazarene,” said Fr. Tony Labiao, executive secretary of Caritas Philippines, the humanitarian and advocacy arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

“We enjoin the faithful, especially those planning to participate in the feast, to be mindful of our responsibility to keep the surroundings garbage-free,” Labiao added.

Caritas and EcoWaste issued the statement as thousands of devotees are expected to swarm the streets of Manila today during the Black Nazarene feast.

EcoWaste urged the devotees to observe the “Pagpupugay” (paying respects), “Lakad Pananampalataya” or Walk of Faith and other activities with conscious effort to keep their own trash.

Aileen Lucero, national coordinator of EcoWaste, noted that past celebrations of the Black Nazarene feast, particularly those held before the COVID pandemic, were marred by indiscriminate disposal of food waste, disposable food containers, bamboo skewers, single-use plastic bags, cups, bottles, straws and cigarette butts.

The group said Manila’s Department of Public Services collected 68 truckloads or 330 tons of garbage during the 2020 “Traslacion,” which was suspended in the past years due to the threat posed by COVID-19.