DENR: Make up for ‘environmental sins’ too this Holy Week

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Monday urged the public to make up for environmental “sins" too this Holy Week. DENR chief Ramon Paje encouraged Filipinos to also use the Holy Week break to "be sorry about actions that may have contributed to the degradation of the environment." "Filipinos, largely Christians by religion, traditionally use this time to atone for their sins… Since reparation comes with atonement, let us then use the time to care for and cultivate God’s creation to make up for our ‘sins’," he said in a statement Monday. Paje reminded people who will take vacations this Holy Week not to "disturb" the conditions of the flora and fauna in eco-tourism spots, and to dispose garbage properly in beaches and other water bodies. "Environmentalists believe in and practice the saying, ‘Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time.’ This is what we need to observe to make sure that future generations will still enjoy what we are enjoying now," he said. He likewise said that the Holy Week is an opportune time for neighborhoods to engage in clean-up drives to declog drainages in preparation for the rainy season, since most people are on break. — Andreo Calonzo/RSJ, GMA News