Brgy officials to decide on request to stop burials in Labangon

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Council has tasked the officials of barangay Labangon to evaluate and decide what action to take on the request to stop the burials in the century-old Labangon public cemetery because it is already full.

This, after a certain Belinda Cabalda said that even if there is no longer an entrance, some persons continued to bury their dead loved ones in the congested cemetery.

Belinda claimed to be one of the heirs of Eulogia Cabalda, the original owner of the lot that has been used as a cemetery since 1898.

“Kay wala na may agianan paingon sa sulod sa menteryo kay bisan ang entrance gilubngan na man, alsahon na lang nila ang lungon og ipalabang sa mga nitso. Mora lagi og milupad ang lungon tan-awon kon dunay maglubong,” Cabalda told The FREEMAN.

Cabalda said she has a title to prove that the lot, where the cemetery is situated, is really owned by Eulogia Cabalda after the court ordered the Register of Deeds to issue the land title to Cabalda when she won the case against the City of Cebu.

But while the Cabaldas won the case in court secured a land title for the 11,888 square meter cemetery lot, the city auctioned the property for the non-payment of real property taxes.

When the lot was auctioned to the public on September 30, 2010, Cabalda’s unpaid real property taxes was P1,114,968 including the penalties.

Because there was no buyer for the property, it was considered sold to the city of Cebu.

Cabalda asked Councilor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña to exempt them from the payment of taxes because they never got even a single centavo of income from the cemetery, but the Committee on Budget and Finance rejected her request.

The law allows only the owners of those properties auctioned by the government for non-payment of taxes, to redeem it within the period of one year, but the Cabaldas failed to do so during the one-year redemption period.

Councilor Noel Eleuterio Wenceslao said under the law, the lot is now owned by the city.  (FREEMAN)