Bisan
hain manlabak basura…
On June 24, 2025, The Manila Standard’s
Angelica Villanueva reported a moment both eye-opening and sadly familiar:
actor Jericho Rosales, during a visit to Tandag City in Surigao del Sur, called
on the public to take part in cleaning up the nation’s beaches after witnessing
the piles of litter along the shoreline. While in town for a performance,
Rosales took time to visit a nearby beach and was met not with pristine sands,
but with the usual suspects of marine pollution: plastic cups, food wrappers,
worn slippers, and used personal hygiene items, carelessly discarded by human
hands.
He did what many celebrities with
platforms should do: he documented the reality. Photos and videos of the
beach’s condition made their way to his Instagram Stories, where his concern
was laced with sarcasm. On a photo of a discarded deodorant bottle, he
captioned, “Mabango nga kilikili mo, ang baho naman ng trato mo sa kalikasan.”
Another jabbed, “Ang puti nga ng kilikili mo, ang itim naman ng budhi mo sa
kalikasan.” Witty, biting, and accurate.
The online response was telling. While a
few netizens acknowledged the gravity of his message, many defaulted to meme
culture, making light of the issue, parodying the moment, or applauding his
performance rather than his purpose. Ironically, it was during the very
performance that Rosales reiterated his long-standing advocacy for responsible
waste disposal. But in the age of instant entertainment, sincerity often gets
lost in the scroll.
This writer was recently reminded of the
consequences of such neglect during a visit to D’ Bone Collector Museum in
Davao. Among the most chilling exhibits is the skeletal remains of a sperm
whale, its death traced to the ingestion of a plastic alcohol container.
Another display showed remnants of balloons found inside nearly extinct sea
turtles. These are not distant tragedies; they are the results of thoughtless
daily habits. The sea, once a sanctuary for both humans and marine life, is
becoming a graveyard of our own making.
Jericho Rosales is more than an actor, he
is a surfer who calls the ocean his playground. That personal connection fuels
his advocacy, giving his message weight. But that message goes beyond celebrity
influence. It echoes a scientific consensus: human activity, especially the
rampant disposal of plastic waste, is pushing marine ecosystems to collapse.
Jambeck et al. (2015) warned that millions of tons of plastic are dumped into
the oceans every year, jeopardizing biodiversity and severing the cultural and
emotional bonds communities share with the sea.
In that light, Rosales’ satirical
captions serve a greater purpose. They peel back the layers of social posturing
to expose the contradictions in our behavior. We pride ourselves on hygiene,
image, and convenience, yet fail at the basic responsibility of disposing of
our waste properly. His commentary, both humorous and scathing, holds up a
mirror to a society that often prefers clean selfies over clean coastlines.
This incident is not just a celebrity
moment: it is a slice of a national problem. If we continue treating
environmental degradation as background noise, we risk normalizing the
irreversible. Caring for the environment is not a grand act; it begins with
simple, conscious choices. Rosales’ message, sarcastic as it may be, leaves us
with an urgent question: Are we willing to change, or are we content to let the
applause drown out the sound of the sea choking on our waste?
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