Grave sight-seeing

MANILA, Philippines –  Till death do us park? Indeed, Manila Memorial Park has carved a niche in the mortuary industry. A premier property in Sucat, Parañaque covering a total area of 427 hectares punctuated by sprawling grassy knolls, manicured lawns, promenades, lakes, and fountains, Manila Memorial Park provides death-luxe accommodations for not a few of the country’s rich and famous. Among Manila Memorial Park’s most prominent residents are Ninoy Aquino and former President Cory Aquino who are together again as their tombs lie side by side. The all-white Aquino mausoleum is undoubtedly one of the most visited — and photographed — gravesites at Manila Memorial Park. Why, it’s like a tourist attraction in this part of the metro! On a cloudy Sunday afternoon, we join groups of families and young barkadas beating a path to the Aquino mausoleum. We’re told that carloads of assorted visitors were there before us. And they just keep coming, like hordes of pilgrims. Not even a brewing tropical depression could keep people from flocking to the mausoleum to pay their respects to the well-loved couple, bring flowers, light a candle, say a little prayer or take pictures — or all of the above. But there are those who are simply curious — make that curious yellow.

Ninoy, Cory, ‘di kayo nag-IISA’

Truly, Ninoy and Cory, hindi kayo nag-iisa!

We wait for our turn to have our pictures taken beside Cory’s and Ninoy’s identical white graves that have simple markers and are framed by four columns. In death as in life, this simple couple did not want anything elaborate.

 “A lot of people who come here ask us where they can find Cory and Ninoy’s graves,” relates Gerald Marasigan, caretaker of the Aquino mausoleum. “After visiting their dead, they come and visit the Aquino mausoleum. Then there are the schoolchildren — busloads of them from Metro Manila and the provinces — who come here on a field trip. I can count at least a thousand visitors here every day, rain or shine.”

In the few years he has served as caretaker of the Aquino mausoleum, Gerald does not remember seeing a lot of showbiz visitors, except perhaps for Gretchen Barretto and Kris Aquino. But he would see a lot of politicians and basketball players.

With people coming and going, Gerald says it’s hard to keep the place clean. “Lalo na ’pag maulan at papasok ang mga taong madumi ang mga paa. Di naman sila puedeng pagbawalan (Especially when it rains and people would come in with dirty feet. And you can’t turn them away).”

Camera-pretty: Fringed by palm trees and lush greenery, the Jose Ramos family estate with its beautiful chapel is the most photographed place at MMP.

Not that Gerald’s complaining. Soap and water are enough to keep the place spic and span, and picture-worthy; no need to wax. Besides, the awe-stricken Gerald says he’s happy to be in the perpetual service of President Cory Aquino whom his mother told him as a young boy was the mother of democracy.

Happy to serve the president

“When I clean Cory’s and Ninoy’s tombs, I feel light and happy because I know I’m serving them,” says a beaming Gerald.

The Aquino senior family estate is located at the Plaza of Dignity. The estate has no fence or gate. Anybody can just walk right in. “It’s what President Cory wanted,” says Gerald. “She wanted to share Ninoy with every Filipino for whom he died.”

To bury her beloved Ninoy, Cory chose a spot at the Manila Memorial Park that’s literally a stone’s throw from the mausoleum of her parents Jose and Demetria Cojuangco. It was there where the Aquino siblings and their families found rest and relief after President Cory Aquino was finally laid to rest following an eight-hour funeral procession.

“That’s where they ate dinner after President Cory was buried at about past 9 p.m.,” Gerald notes.

Before Gerald, it was his mother, the late Editha Marasigan, who was the Aquinos’ caretaker. It was the Cojuangcos’ major domo (butler) who introduced the Marasigan children to Cory after their mother died. “Mama would tell us how mabait Cory was to them. The caretakers were close to Cory because she was good to them.”

Gerald took over his mother’s job when the latter died of diabetes at only 56 years old. He remembers seeing Cory up close every time Ninoy’s death anniversary came around. “I would see her and then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo always seated together during the Mass held here and attended by government officials and politicians like Alfredo Lim and Frank Drilon,” Gerald recalls. “They were still friends then. When they were no longer friends, GMA no longer came here, but she would still send flowers every year, no fail. As caretakers, my wife and I would receive the flowers. It was usually a wreath of white orchids.”

No splendor in the grass

When Cory was buried, the caretakers stayed up till 11 p.m., after the last visitor had left, to keep watch and clean up. “We were so tired, there were thousands of people we couldn’t even get near the grave,” Gerald relates and then points at the tiles below. “This used to be all grass, but everything died after it was stepped on. So, there’s no more grass, just these new tiles now.”

Gerald tells us that Ninoy’s tomb was not originally located here; there was no Aquino mausoleum yet when Ninoy was buried in 1983. “Ninoy’s grave was located in the middle of the mausoleum. When President Cory died, it was pushed to the side to make way for Cory.”

The Aquino mausoleum took on a fresh coat of white paint a day before Noynoy Aquino was inaugurated as the 15th president of the Philippines. According to Gerald, P-Noy has visited his parents’ tombs a lot of times since he became president.

Before Noynoy became P-Noy, Gerald relates that when he’d come to visit, it was so easy to approach Noynoy, no PSG to push the caretakers aside. “Sir Noynoy is really good. When he came, he was the first one to greet us. Also, we could get near Sir Noynoy because his driver is our friend. Come Christmastime, we’d ask for money through his driver. Sir Noynoy was generous, he would give us money.”

Surely, there’ll be lots of flowers on Cory’s and Ninoy’s tombs on All Saints’ Day, a lot of them not from their family or relatives but from people whose lives they touched and probably changed. “With so many people giving flowers, the Aquino family doesn’t have to bring their own,” Gerald observes. “But Ballsy (Aquino-Cruz) gave us two tall candles, one each for President Cory and Ninoy, to keep in the Cojuangco estate. We will put them on the Aquino graves on Oct. 31.”

Lights, Camera, Shoot!

Now showing is the Jose T. Ramos back-to-back senior family estate occupying 144 lots at the Willow Court of Manila Memorial Park. If the place looks familiar to you, you’re probably a kapamilya and an avid follower of primetime teleserye Magkaribal, some of whose episodes are shot at the Ramos estate. With the ABS-CBN cameras whirring and rivals Gretchen Barretto and Bea Alonzo (playing long-lost sisters Victoria Valera and Gelai Agustin) exchanging a volley of bitchy tirades, the place suddenly comes to life.

“When there’s a shooting, the caretakers would all watch. The shooting would take the whole day, from morning till about 5 p.m.,” says Pacita “Aling Pacing” Busel, an Ilongga from Bacolod City who has been a caretaker at Manila Memorial Park for the past 17 years. “Gretchen (Barretto) is beautiful and kind. She would call us and give us copies of the Magkaribal magazine. They would share their food with us. For breakfast, they would have homecooked fish and eggs.”

The crew would bring their own plastic bags to keep the place tidy and pitch a tent outside, where the cast could change their clothes.

Outside of the TV tapings, Aling Pacing has gotten used to the scores of visitors who descend on the Ramos family estate like a swarm of bees any day of the week. “We get so many different visitors here,” she shares. “Like one time, we had so many nuns who wanted to see our place because they said the chapel is so beautiful. A lot people are attracted to the beauty of the place. There are those visiting their dead who pass by this estate, even if they don’t know who’s buried here.”

Who lies beneath

In that beautiful mausoleum lies Jose T. Ramos who, with his wife Socorro Ramos, set up a nine-story building on Avenida, Rizal which was to be the very first National Book Store in 1965.

The mausoleum is not air-conditioned; it is simply cooled by an electric fan. According to Aling Pacing, Nanay Coring did not want an air conditioner installed because she said her house is already air-conditioned.

“Yes, Nanay Coring would come always, even if there’s no special occasion. She would always be with her driver and maid,” says Aling Pacing. “Nanay is very kind. She would always ask how we’re doing, how our families are doing.”

Nanay Coring’s kindness is enough to lighten the caretakers’ workload. “Work is hard — cutting the grass, putting fertilizers, and especially watering the plants because we have to carry pails and pails of water,” says Aling Pacing.

The pay is not much but enough to keep body and soul together, notes Aling Pacing. And to send her six children to school. Her son Emmanuel also ended up as a caretaker who’s in charge of 30 lots. Pacing’s husband, a former security guard at MMP, is now also a caretaker. They help their son with his work that takes from sunup till sundown.

“We only work until about 7 p.m.; at 7, all the gates are closed,” says Aling Pacing. “Most of the lot owners stay up to 7 p.m. only. Except during Undas (All Saints’ Day), when they stay longer, some even put up tents.”

But as darkness falls, Aling Pacing would not be caught dead roaming the grounds of MMP. “I’m not afraid of ghosts and I haven’t really seen any since I worked here,” says a smiling Aling Pacing. “But at night, I’m afraid when I’m alone because this is still a cemetery.”

Yan ang tunay

Pacita is afraid of ghosts?” a surprised Sergio “Mang Toto” Rupero asks us with a big grin. Mang Toto has been a caretaker for the past 25 years. Now, he’s the caretaker of the Yan junior family estate covering 24 lots at the Plaza of Honor in MMP. Taking care of Rico Yan’s mausoleum, Mang Toto has had his share of the limelight. “I was interviewed by Julius Babao on ABS-CBN when Rico was buried,” he tells us, that big smile on his face never fading away. “My wife died almost at the same time as Rico. She died after swallowing big santol seeds.”

The mausoleum, shaped like a yacht, is quite a sight. Rico died at Dos Palmas Hotel in the island province of Palawan. Born March 14, 1975, Ricardo Carlos Yan died March 29, 2002.

Rico’s spirit lives

Rico’s all-marble grave bears his photograph, leaping out of an all-marble wall with water flowing down the sides. Etched on the portrait are these words: His spirit lives on.

Rico is alive in the hearts of his family, friends, relatives, and many fans who come and visit him. There’s never a day when there are no fresh flowers on Rico’s grave. “When his parents are in town from the US, they visit and bring flowers. If not, his fans bring flowers. If the flowers are no longer fresh, I bring kalachuchi flowers to put on Rico’s tomb.”

“It’s just like Cory, people come here every day, bringing flowers. They come even at night,” he adds.

Mang Toto remembers when Rico, then an awkward teenager, would come and visit the mausoleum of his grandmother, Amelia Acab Yan. He would come with his grandfather, then Ambassador Manuel Yan. It was at his grandparents’ mausoleum where Rico was first buried.

“Rico was a kind boy,” says Mang Toto. “Like most young boys, he was makulit and would ask me if there were ghosts in this place. He was afraid of ghosts.”

Ghost hunting you say? Celebrity hunting is more like it. So, when you’re in this part of town that comes alive not just on All Saints’ Day, why not go grave sight-seeing? It would be a grave mistake not to.