By Christina Hermoso
In anticipation of the tons of garbage that would be left behind by devotees during the Black Nazarene Traslacion procession on Tuesday,January 9, the Quiapo Church has formed a Green Brigade that will help address the environmental problem.
Father Ric Valencia, head minister of the Archdiocese of Manila’s Ecology Ministry said, the Church has intensified its Green Formation campaign “to help the faithful, particularly,Black Nazarene devotees, to maintain the cleanliness of the procession route every year.”
The carriage bearing the image of the Black Nazarene passes through sea of devotees in Manila on Saturday.
(JOHN JEROME GANZON / Manila Bulletin File Photo) The priest said the Green Brigade will be divided into two groups this year – one group to clean the procession route and the other, to clean up after the procession has passed. Last year, the garbage generated by the procession filled up65 trucks, equivalent to about 341.29 tons of trash. In2016, some 172.29 tons of garbage were collected after the procession. “The Quiapo Church has long organized the Green Brigade to help manage the garbage problem before and after the Black Nazarene procession such as last December 31 during the thanksgiving procession in Quiapo,” Valencia said over Church-run Radio Veritas. The priest appealed to the faithful “to be responsible and to throw their garbage in proper disposal bins.Let us change our mindset and be more responsible this time by not littering.” Valencia also called on volunteers who might want to help clean up the streets after the Traslacion. Cleaning up and picking up garbage, he said, is very humbling and a most sincere gesture of devotion and respect for the environment that God created for us. “We welcome groups who might want to help as a form of devotion and deep expression of faith. Maybe, it is humbling but it is very powerful because it’s being grateful to the Creator who has given us the best, particular His only Son. Our attitude towards these gifts is also our act of gratefulness to the Creator,” Valencia stressed.
The carriage bearing the image of the Black Nazarene passes through sea of devotees in Manila on Saturday.(JOHN JEROME GANZON / Manila Bulletin File Photo) The priest said the Green Brigade will be divided into two groups this year – one group to clean the procession route and the other, to clean up after the procession has passed. Last year, the garbage generated by the procession filled up65 trucks, equivalent to about 341.29 tons of trash. In2016, some 172.29 tons of garbage were collected after the procession. “The Quiapo Church has long organized the Green Brigade to help manage the garbage problem before and after the Black Nazarene procession such as last December 31 during the thanksgiving procession in Quiapo,” Valencia said over Church-run Radio Veritas. The priest appealed to the faithful “to be responsible and to throw their garbage in proper disposal bins.Let us change our mindset and be more responsible this time by not littering.” Valencia also called on volunteers who might want to help clean up the streets after the Traslacion. Cleaning up and picking up garbage, he said, is very humbling and a most sincere gesture of devotion and respect for the environment that God created for us. “We welcome groups who might want to help as a form of devotion and deep expression of faith. Maybe, it is humbling but it is very powerful because it’s being grateful to the Creator who has given us the best, particular His only Son. Our attitude towards these gifts is also our act of gratefulness to the Creator,” Valencia stressed.