LAST November 1 and 2, most of us visited our loved ones who have gone to the other shore. Once a year we remember and honor those who have gone before us.

Traffic was notorious in all areas near the cemeteries and memorial parks.

Memorial parks turned into reunion venues and picnic grounds by family members who took time out from their everyday routine to remember their dead. I received a Facebook comment from my friend Gemma in Florida that Americans just couldn't believe that we celebrate All Souls Day with such festivity. I guess we Filipinos are always looking for an excuse to celebrate life even among the dead.

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We go to the extent of cleaning the burial grounds by trimming the grass around the area and repainting the gravestones even days before All Souls Day. During the almost three days of celebration, we visit their final resting place and offer prayers for their souls then go on celebrating their lives with lots of food, stories and reunions.

It would have been very good if the story ended there.

When I went back to visit my mom's final resting place on November 3, I was just so disgusted by the amount of garbage blanketing the cemeteries. One could see the dozens of street sweepers hauling all the refuse left by the public. I talked to one of the street sweepers and he related to me that last year they hauled at least a ton of waste from just one of the major public cemetery of Davao City.

Now this I cannot understand -- we all say that we respect our dead and after doing all our ways of respecting them we then leave their graves covered with all the trash and leftovers. I guess we have a funny way of respecting our dead.

During burial events, have you noticed the trash that mourners leave behind after the ceremonies? I am not talking about the wreaths of flowers but the plastic wrappers and the empty tetra packs left behind after the family of the departed served snacks. I see that some have receptacles or garbage bags but still people prefer to just drop their trash right on the spot where they ate their snacks. Is there some belief or superstition regarding throwing your trash in the garbage bins whenever you are inside the cemetery?

I remember Jun Gales of the Island Garden City of Samal telling me that they have a local policy of discouraging their citizens from serving snacks or food inside the public cemetery. They insist that snacks be served at the residence of the departed so that the household can dispose of the waste plastic packages from the food items properly.

I think this is a very good ordinance to emulate, what about it Davao City councilors? If we have existing anti littering laws in the city then why can't we enforce them inside the cemeteries? If there is a "no smoking, no drinking of alcohol, no loud music and no deadly weapons" policy during undas, then why can't we strictly enforce a "no littering" policy as well.

I fear that this dirty situation is just reflective on how the people of Davao City are faring indisposing their garbage. We may have a sanitary landfill and we have an efficient garbage collection system but when it comes down to the individual and household level we still have a long way to becoming a solid waste management champion. If not for the hardworking street sweepers, we would see waste from litterbugs cover our streets. If not for our garbage collectors, our houses would be filled with unsegregated waste. If not for our scavengers and "dyaryo bote" boys, we would not have an efficient recycling system.

As individuals and households, we have still to be educated to properly segregate and dispose of our wastes. I do not see how this can be done quickly but I hope that the local governments and the private sectors can team up and launch a massive and effective information campaign for proper waste disposal in the individual and household level.

Maybe our local government units can start experimenting on the various incentives that can be given to those who follow the law just like in the Municipality of Sto. Tomas in Davao del Norte. Simple information dissemination does not work as we have seen in the past few years.

I have seen the destructive effect of an undisciplined citizenry on the beautiful resting places of our dearly departed. Is this really how we honor our dead by trashing their graves?

rpalabado@gmail.com