Fertility ritual marks protest vs Navotas dump

Joining the worldwide celebration of the Global Day of Action on Waste, concerned citizens of Obando and Navotas will flock to the streets on Sept. 1 to push for the closure of the controversial 10-hectare dump in Barangay Tanza, Navotas by way of an age-old fertility ritual.

The event, which aims to dramatize the people’s call for government’s immediate action against the controversial site, is organized by an alliance composed of Pamalakaya-Bulacan, Obando People’s Alliance Against Dumpsite, the Bulacan-Navotas-Malabon Puwersa Kontra Basura, Sining Yapak, Anak Pawis, GAIA, Mother Earth Foundation, Greenpeace, Bangon Kalikasan and the Center for Environmental and Development Studies, with the support of various socio-civic and religious groups.

"Everyone is encouraged to join the crusade for a waste-free society," said actress-environmentalist Chin-Chin Gutierrez, who will be leading Wednesday’s street-dancing activity. "Obando is not an isolated case. By way of re-enacting the town’s fertility ritual, the alliance of concerned citizens and environmental organizations would like to express the moral, ethical and spiritual dimensions of this issue, including the threat of ‘barrenness’ that both man and nature will suffer if this garbage problem is not settled soon."

Condemmned by residents of surrounding areas an an "ecological and health hazard," the Navotas landfill has been the subject of controversy following complaints about the alleged contamination of surrounding fishponds, its ill effects on the health and livehood of the local community, as well as the sickening stench emitted by the decomposing garbage.