SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya – This may become the town of the homeless dead.
Thousands of bodies buried in the municipal cemetery here may become “homeless” once the town government declares the cemetery lots open to interested buyers if the living relatives of those buried fail to renew their lot rentals by Nov. 5.
Municipal engineer Nestor Gonzaga yesterday said this situation came about as a result of the growing scarcity of land in the cemetery, and the fact that it is already incapable of accommodating all dead in the town.
“We have to do this to be able to see how filled up is our cemetery since the municipal government is exerting all effort to acquire new lots for the cemetery. We have been doing this with the presumption that our old cemetery is already full,” he said, adding that there are lots that seem to have been abandoned, with the last deaths there dating back to 20, even 30 years ago.
Solano is one of the few areas in the country that observes Nov. 2 rather than Nov. 1 as Feast Day of the Dead, this being explained by oldtimers as a way for residents to be able to visit their dear departed in neighboring Bayombong town on Nov. 1 and still be able to tend to their loved ones in the municipal cemetery.
Gonzaga said that the usual practice – as far as the municipal cemetery in Barangay Roxas here is concerned – is that people only think of renewing their cemetery lots once they have a deceased member in the family.
Thus, in order to be able find out the real status of these seemingly abandoned lots, they thought of coming out with a notice to the public to renew their rentals if they are still interested in keeping their lots.
Meanwhile, Mayor Philip Dacayo said that the municipal government is ensuring the eventual expansion of the municipal cemetery, one of the most congested in the region, by buying adjacent lots as well as the construction of condominium-type burial units.
“This is apparently the only way to go in this town if we wish to be able to accommodate more dead in our cemetery,” Dacayo said, adding that the cemetery will soon be filled to capacity.
The reported average annual death in the town is said to be around 500.
Solano, bidding to be the province’s first city, also has a Spanish-era cemetery, now in disuse, where the remains of notables during the Spanish colonial period are reportedly buried.