CEBU, Philippines – A total of 400 sacks of garbage were collected by the Lapu-Lapu City's Clean and Green department after the observance All Saints' and All Souls' Days.
Mario Ymbong, head of the department, said their group initially started cleaning the areas near the public cemeteries from October 27 to 31, adding that the cleanup was a way of identifying areas where waste volume was high.
"Upat ka grupo among gibutang sa paglimpyo sa kalsada og sulod sa sementeryo," Ymbong said. There were 80 workers divided into groups responsible for cleaning the streets and inside cemeteries, such as personnel from Clean and Green, Material Recovery Facilities group, Solid Waste team, as well as two garbage truck collectors.
Ymbong said he instructed the cleaning force to collect every piece of garbage in sacks and to separate the biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes.
He said they closely monitored the municipal and Catholic cemeteries because there were a lot of people that went in and out of cemeteries.
The police force estimated that about 6,000 individual visited the cemeteries.
Ymbong said the public has cooperated to their instructions regarding proper disposal of wastes. He thanked the police force and traffic personnel for their coordination in maintaining peace and cleanliness during the two-day observance.