A non-government organization has called on politicians who will be running in next year’s elections to spare cemeteries from all sorts of gimmickry and not to take advantage of Undas for premature campaigning activities.

The EcoWaste Coalition, an advocate of waste prevention and reduction, said that politicians should not use the dead for political gains as the country is set to commemorate All Soul’s and All Saint’s Days.

“We urge well-meaning politicos not to drown the cemeteries and their environs with banners that, by design or not, are meant to publicize their names with the electorate,” said Romy Hidalgo, board member of the EcoWaste Coalition.

He said that instead of displaying their big tarpaulins in the vicinities of cemeteries, politicians should exert efforts and resources in ensuring orderliness and cleanliness during the occasion.

“In lieu of self-patronizing banners, we ask them to help cemetery administrators and surrounding barangays to ensure sufficient waste and sanitation services before, during and after Undas,” Hidalgo added.

He likewise asked Filipinos from all walks of life to perform the time-honored tradition of paying homage to the dead without turning the cemeteries into dumpsites for trash.

“We surely can express our reverence and gratitude for our departed relatives and friends sans unashamed littering and dumping. The festive occasion is not an excuse for litterbugs to dirty and defile the cemeteries and convert them from burial to dumping grounds,” he said.

He likewise appealed to the public to “be responsible enough not to leave any trash behind the cemetery, a hallowed ground deserving our utmost respect. Please refrain from being a hardhearted Zombasura.”

Zombasura is an EcoWaste Coalition’s wordplay combining “zombie” and “basura” to mortify unfeeling litterbugs who pollute cemeteries with their messy habits of dropping litter, piling trash or burning garbage.

For his part, Froilan Grate, president of the Mother Earth Foundation and one of the framers of the Zero Waste Pilipinas movement reminded the public of the wrath brought by Habagat that crippled Metro Manila.

“Let’s not forget the ‘bagsik ng habagat” (the southwest monsoon’s fury) in August that pounded and submerged Metro Manila and nearby provinces in floods,” he added.

Indiscriminate waste disposal aggravated the massive flooding that killed almost 100 people and caused enormous damage to agriculture and infrastructure.

“While it is already obvious, we still want to remind everyone that what we throw away will return to haunt us like the infamous post-habagat trashing of the Manila Bay esplanade. That is the law of karma,” Grate said.

The southwest monsoon washed up tons of mixed trash toward Roxas Boulevard, from the Philippine Yacht to the US Embassy, instantaneously turning the landmark into a virtual dumpsite.