Hooded Filipino flagellants walk along a street as part of Maundy Thursday rituals to atone for sins or fulfill vows for an answered prayer on April 6, 2023 at Mandaluyong city, Philippines. COVID restrictions the past years have prevented crowds and devotees in participating in bizarre lenten rituals, a practice which have been opposed by the church in this predominantly Roman Catholic country.(Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





Wilfredo Salvador hangs on the cross during a reenactment of Jesus Christ's sufferings as part of Good Friday rituals April 7, 2023 in the village of San Pedro, Cutud, Pampanga province, northern Philippines. The real-life crucifixions, a gory Good Friday tradition that is rejected by the Catholic church, resumes in this farming village after a three-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.(Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





Members of a Catholic organization pray the rosary during a procession on Good Friday, in San Miguel, Bulacan province, Philippines on April 7, 2023. (Photo by Lisa Marie David/Reuters)





Ruben Enaje is nailed to the cross during a reenactment of Jesus Christ's sufferings as part of Good Friday rituals April 7, 2023, in the village of San Pedro, Cutud, Pampanga province, northern Philippines. The real-life crucifixions, a gory Good Friday tradition that is rejected by the Catholic church, resumes in this farming village after a three-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.(Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





Filipino Catholics visit statues of God on Good Friday, in San Miguel, Bulacan province, Philippines on April 7, 2023. (Photo by Lisa Marie David/Reuters)





15 Mysteries Catholic Lay Missionaries founder Sister Jovita Domingo pours water to a devotee during a ritual on Good Friday, in San Miguel, Bulacan province, Philippines, April 7, 2023. (Photo by Lisa Marie David/Reuters)





Filipino women in traditional costumes perform outside a Catholic church during a procession marking Easter Sunday, in Las Pinas City, Metro Manila, Philippines on April 9, 2023. Catholic faithful participated traditional events of Easter Sunday which depicts the biblical account of the reunion of Mother Mary and Jesus Christ who has risen from death. (Photo by Francis R Malasig/EPA/EFE)





A lineman removes burnt electric wires at the scene of a fire in Taytay city, Metro Manila, Philippines, 10 April 2023. Seven deceased people embracing each other after being trapped were found at the scene of a fire near the Philippines capital. The fire destroyed 40 houses leaving 60 homeless in the densely populated Taytay city. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA)





A Filipino soldier is seen through the barrel of a Carl Gustaf recoilless anti-tank rifle during a joint military exercise between the U.S, and Philippines called “Balikatan”, Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder at Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Thursday, April 13, 2023. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





US and Philippine troops fire a Javelin anti-tank weapon system during the “Balikatan” or “shoulder-to-shoulder” US-Philippines joint military exercises in Fort Magsaysay on April 13, 2023 in Nueva Ecija, Philippines. More than 17,000 Philippine and US soldiers started their largest joint military exercise yet, known as “Balikatan” or “shoulder-to-shoulder”, which includes live-fire drills at sea, as the two nations strengthen defence ties amid shared concerns about China's assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region. The joint military exercises took place as China completed three days of war games around Taiwan, coinciding with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's visit to the United States. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)





A creek is clogged with plastic waste on April 15, 2023 in Caloocan, Metro Manila, Philippines. The Philippines is the largest ocean polluter in the world, contributing a third of the 80% of global ocean plastic that comes from Asian rivers, according to a 2021 report by Oxford University's Our World in Data. Poverty has led the Philippines to become a “sachet economy” that consumes 163 million sachets every day, worsening marine plastic pollution in the region. The trash is piling up on land, clogging coastlines, spilling into the sea, and traveling to remote corners of the globe, as the country fails to meet targets for improved waste management that it signed into law more than two decades ago. According to Greenpeace, global corporations trap low-income customers in developing countries like the Philippines to buy – and buy often – fast-moving consumer goods in small quantities packaged in cheap, disposable plastics as part of a strategy to drive market share and profits. Break Free From Plastic’s 2022 Brand Audit Report revealed that the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International, Universal Robina Corporation (URC), Philippine Spring Water Resources, Inc., and Japan Tobacco International are the worst plastic polluters in the country. Globally, Coca-Cola also leads the list for five years in a row, followed by PepsiCo, Nestle, Mondelez International, and Unilever – all consistently part of the annual top 10. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)





Workers walk on a creek clogged with plastic waste on April 15, 2023 in Caloocan, Metro Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)





A worker sorts plastic bottles for recycling at a junkshop on April 11, 2023 in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)





A worker sorts plastic bottles for recycling at a junkshop on April 11, 2023 in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)





A boy reaches for a ball on a creek clogged with plastic waste on April 15, 2023 in Caloocan, Metro Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)





A boy looks at the hybrid solar eclipse with protective glasses, in Marikina City, Metro Manila, Philippines on April 20, 2023. (Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)





A “river warrior” collects plastic waste at San Juan river on April 20, 2023 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippines is the largest ocean polluter in the world, contributing a third of the 80% of global ocean plastic that comes from Asian rivers, according to a 2021 report by Oxford University's Our World in Data. Poverty has led the Philippines to become a “sachet economy” that consumes 163 million sachets every day, worsening marine plastic pollution in the region. The trash is piling up on land, clogging coastlines, spilling into the sea, and traveling to remote corners of the globe, as the country fails to meet targets for improved waste management that it signed into law more than two decades ago. According to Greenpeace, global corporations trap low-income customers in developing countries like the Philippines to buy – and buy often – fast-moving consumer goods in small quantities packaged in cheap, disposable plastics as part of a strategy to drive market share and profits. Break Free From Plastic’s 2022 Brand Audit Report revealed that the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International, Universal Robina Corporation (URC), Philippine Spring Water Resources, Inc., and Japan Tobacco International are the worst plastic polluters in the country. Globally, Coca-Cola also leads the list for five years in a row, followed by PepsiCo, Nestle, Mondelez International, and Unilever – all consistently part of the annual top 10. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)





A person and a dog walk near an art installation of masks on Bamboo poles during Earth Day in Manila, Philippines, 22 April 2023. Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22nd worldwide. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA)





A flock of egrets searches for food at a garbage dump site on the eve of Earth Day in Angono, Metro Manila, Philippines, 21 April 2023. Earth Day is celebrated worldwide annualy on April 22. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA)





A Patriot air missile system is fired during a live fire exercise in the annual joint military exercises between U.S. and Philippine troops called “Balikatan” or shoulder-to-shoulder, at a naval base in San Antonio, Zambales province, Philippines on April 25, 2023. (Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)