Katipunan's Holy Week Vendors

By Paul Lee

For commuters passing the Katipunan service road en route to Marikina and Antipolo the Monasterio de Sta. Clara Church has remained one of the most familiar landmarks along the Katipunan route. This familiarity with the sacred is most evident this time of the year especially amongst the faithful as they congregate in observance of Palm Sunday recalling the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem leading to Holy Week and Easter Sunday. However while the worshippers make their presence felt with their pilgrimages; equally ubiquitous during the Holy Week outside the Monasterio is the presence of the vendors congregating both under the flyover and outside the church gates hawking their wares to churchgoers. As the devotees express their reverence to the passion and death of Christ waving their palaspas and praying to the image of Sta. Clara outside for intercession, for the vendors huddled outside the church under the multicoloured umbrellas shielding them from the summer sun it was business as usual.

Often made up of entire families; which include both children and the elderly pitching in to help, the vendors sell both devotional items and native snacks as well as the colour-coded ‘lucky’ eggs sold in bunches that are offered for divine intercession to mortal concerns. Indeed some of the families who have had their businesses outside the Monasterio have been around for decades. Among the vendors who have been in the business outside the Monasterio is Aling Baby. For the past decade Aling Baby has been making a living selling images of the patron saint Sta. Clara as well as rosaries, devotional books and other religious paraphernalia. Being from a poor background; Aling Baby believes that selling religious items is the only livelihood she is most familiar with and that she would not have anything else for the world. Not surprisingly, her son also helps out in her business; thankfully for her the church did not mind both her and the other vendors to run her business since they have formed a vendor’s cooperative.

Aling Baby charges the images of Sta. Clara according to size with the largest being PhP 1200.00 while the smaller images sell for around PhP 150.00. On the right side of the gate is Aling Liza another long-time vendor who has been selling her wares with her family since 1989. In her case; Aling Liza sells the ‘lucky eggs’ usually packed in clusters of six and twelve, and are sold from PhP 30.00 to PhP 60.00 and are packed in coloured cellophane with orange for employment, green for money, red for business and not surprisingly pink for romance.

Of course, there are always the Holy Week bestsellers, namely the traditional palm fronds or palaspas which were sold for PhP 10.00 per frond and both young and old hawk them to the parishioners. At the end of Palm Sunday; most of the unsold fronds will in turn be burned and their ashes saved for next Lenten. And in the end the holidays are often the best time to profit and even the most sacred Holy Week where the Passion and Death and Resurrection of Christ is no exception.

(Paul Lee is a freelance writer. He is currently finishing his master's in creative writing at U.P. Diliman. Photographs by Paul Lee)

Holy Week Travellers urged to "Think outside the bottle" - EcoWaste Coalition

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

MANILA, March 29 (PNA) -- As city folk brace themselves for the seasonal “Semana Santa” pilgrimage or leisure trip, a waste and pollution watchdog issued a “prayerful reminder” for travelers to “think outside the bottle” and give up the bottled water habit.

The EcoWaste Coalition released its latest eco-advisory in time for the much anticipated Holy Week exodus where people take advantage of the long vacation to fulfill their religious vows, visit relatives or travel long distances to get away from the frenzy of urban life.

“We expect increased consumer demand for bottled beverages like bottled water as people hit the road or frolic on the beach under the broiling April sun,” said Chin Chin Gutierrez of Alaga LAHAT and the EcoWaste Coalition.

“The ever increasing production and consumption of bottled water bring myriad environmental and health problems that consumers are hardly informed about, including the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the whole life cycle of bottled water, the potential leaching of chemicals from plastic bottles, microbial contamination due to poor regulation, and marine litter,” she added.

“In lieu of single-use bottled water, we urge consumers to bring a reusable water jug, stainless steel or lined aluminum container filled with clean tap water or, if necessary, with boiled, filtered or purified water to cut on GHGs and trash. By making it a habit to bring our own ‘lalagyan,’ we avoid creating waste and pollution,” Gutierrez said.

"If buying bottled water cannot be avoided, consumers should dispose of the empty bottles in recycling bins to prevent hazards to human and ecological health. The practice of burning plastic bottles discharges chemical poisons such as dioxins, while discarding them on the street or on the beach pollutes the surroundings and threatens aquatic life," she added.

According to Ocean Conservancy’s “Marine Debris Index,” the Philippines registered the highest number of littered beverage plastic bottles in Southeast Asia, based on marine debris collected during the International Coastal Cleanup Day in 2008. The Philippines accounted for 20,238 pieces, followed by Singapore at 4,932, Thailand 3,216, Malaysia 2,046, Indonesia 681, and Vietnam 5.

The EcoWaste Coalition cited the latest viral video craze “The Story of Bottled Water” launched on March 22, the World Water Day, to affirm its arguments against the bottled water habit that many Filipinos have unwittingly adopted.

The video outlines the various issues against bottled water such as “manufacturing” consumer demand through misleading advertising, the extraction and use of oil to produce water bottles, the emission of GHGs from the manufacture, transportation and disposal of water bottles, and dumping or burning of used bottles. (PNA) FFC/PR/mec

MMDA suspends number-coding scheme starting Tuesday, March 30, 2010

MANILA, March 29 (PNA) --- Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on Monday suspended the enforcement of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) effective Tuesday.

“The suspension of the UVVRP is our way of ensuring the convenience of the public. This way, they can travel without any delay, and there will be enough public utility vehicles to ferry passengers all day long,” MMDA Chairman Oscar Inocentes said.

The early lifting of the number coding scheme is to give way to the expected high volume of vehicles, both public utility and private, to the provinces as the country celebrates the Lenten season.

The agency is also taking part in the yearly Lakbay Alalay under the Oplan Semana Santa spearheaded by the Department of Transportation and Communications.

The MMDA Traffic and Transport Management Office (TTMO) will deploy more than 1,000 traffic enforcers to man the major thoroughfares, particularly Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (Edsa) and the other exit points of Metro Manila.

Inocentes said that majority of the traffic personnel would be assigned to the roads leading to provincial bus terminals and other vital installations to guarantee the safety of thousands of commuters and even pedestrians.

The operations of the TTMO, in close coordination with the local government units, will concentrate on crucial areas and traffic choke points such as Balintawak, McArthur Highway, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Sumulong Highway, Marcos Highway, Coastal Road, Roxas Boulevard, Alabang, Pasay, and Cubao.

Inocentes said that the “nose in nose out” policy on bus terminals will be in effect, thereby prohibiting bus drivers to maneuver their vehicles along Edsa. Also, they are not allowed to load and unload outside their respective terminals.

“I have ordered our enforcers to strictly enforce the rules so that there will be a smooth flow of traffic,” Inocentes said.

The agency’s Roadside Emergency Group will also be on standby to provide roadside emergency service and assistance to the public.

He also appealed to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) management to deploy additional personnel to collect toll fees during rush hours to avoid traffic congestion.

Inocentes also urged the public to cooperate and support the traffic enforcers and other authorities in order to guarantee a safe, peaceful, and meaningful Lent.(PNA) RMA/CLTC