MANILA – The use of disposable plastic banderitas (flaglets) in celebration of the Feast of Sto. Niño is inconsistent with local and global efforts to address plastic pollution, an environmental group said Tuesday.
In a news release, the EcoWaste Coalition urged community leaders to forgo the use of plastic “labo” (thin plastic without handles) and other single-use plastic materials as decorations, which pose threats to the environment and public health when disposed of.
“Buntings made of plastic labo and other single-use plastics go straight to garbage disposal sites after the festivities,” EcoWaste Coalition zero waste campaigner Ochie Tolentino said.
“We question the continued use of disposable banderitas in faith-inspired festivities, which only add to the perennial garbage woes facing our communities,” she added.
The group spotted the plastic banderitas in Manila’s Pandacan and Tondo districts.
It noted that their use during fiestas is not in line with the resolution on plastic that church leaders adopted at the 128th Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in July 2024.
The resolution supports the eradication of plastic pollution as one of the six ecological actions to be pursued by the Catholic community.
In 2019, the bishops issued a pastoral letter on ecology titled “An Urgent Call for Ecological Conversion, Hope in the Face of Climate Emergency.”
It affirmed the commitment of the church to live the spirit and principles of Laudato Si, the encyclical of Pope Francis on care for the natural environment and the people.
It also included 13 ecological actions, including one point advising the faithful to “live simply, minimize consumption, and actively promote ecological awareness and action through integral waste segregation and by minimizing the use of plastic and paper, by eliminating single-use plastics, polystyrene, and the like, from our homes and institutions.”
Tolentino urged the public to make the protection of the environment and of people the center of faith-rooted celebrations. (PNA)