19 April 2025, Quezon City. The waste and pollution watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition called out citizens who simply threw their discards on the ground while performing their faith-driven visits to pilgrimage sites last Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
Based on the group’s monitoring, some popular pilgrimage sites and their immediate environs were found littered. On the other hand, some were litter-free or almost.
For this year’s monitoring, the group visited the International Shrine of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, or the Antipolo Cathedral, in Antipolo City, Rizal Province, and the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Shrine in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan Province, as well as some of the designated Jubilee Churches in the Archdiocese of Manila and the Dioceses of Caloocan, Cubao, Imus, Malolos, and Parañaque.
While less litter was observed at the patio of the Antipolo Cathedral compared to past years, the group found discarded religious literature and other trash at the entrance of the church in the early morning of Good Friday. Some pilgrims who rested in adjacent areas after the grueling Alay Lakad inconsiderately left plastic sheets, corrugated boxes, plastic bottles, food containers, and leftovers for uncomplaining street cleaners to pick up. Ortigas Avenue Extension, one of the main roads leading to the pilgrimage city was likewise found littered, especially with plastic bottles, cups, and other single-use plastics.
Heaps of trash greeted visitors at the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Shrine. Bins and bags were found overflowing with assorted and mostly plastic trash. At the picnic area, some people abandoned used plastic bottles and paper bowls on the tables or plant boxes. Plastic bags for candles were found scattered at the Stations of the Cross. The hill where the statue of the crucified Christ is depicted is strewn with trash.
Other places found littered at the time of monitoring were the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno (Manila City); National Shrine and Parish of the Divine Mercy (Marilao, Bulacan); and Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Grace (Caloocan City).
Jubilee Churches visited and found litter-free in the Archdiocese of Manila were the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception; Minor Basilica of the Our Lady of the Pillar; Minor Basilica of San Sebastian; National Shrine of the Our Lady of the Abandoned; National Shrine of the Sacred Heart; Archdiocese Shrine and Parish of the Our Lady of Loreto; Archdiocese Shrine of the Nuestra Señora de Guia; Saint John Bosco Parish; San Ildefonso Parish; and San Pablo Apostol Parish.
Also found litter-free were– the National Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Parañaque City); Basilica of the National Shrine of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Quezon City); St. Gregory the Great Parish (Indang, Cavite); as well as the Cathedral of the Holy Child (National Cathedral of the Philippine Independent Church, Manila City).
The EcoWaste Coalition thanked the local government and church authorities for encouraging the faithful not to litter and to uphold cleanliness at all times. At the same time, the group conveyed the need for more effective measures to control, if not eradicate, littering during the pilgrimage such as by conducting year-round environmental value formation and enforcing policies to make religious festivities eco-friendly, including full compliance with Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
The group likewise emphasized the need for the government to ban single-use plastics (the most common littered items) and to actively promote and incentivize reuse and refill systems to cut plastic use and toxic pollution.
The EcoWaste Coalition also thanked the street cleaners and other waste workers, including informal recyclers, for picking up after the pilgrims, while expressing its hope that everyone would be responsible enough to mind their trash and keep our environment waste-free and toxics-free.
