Probe eyed on apartment tomb rental scheme

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III wants to investigate an alleged scheme of renting out apartment-style tombs in public cemeteries across the country, following the unauthorized exhumation of 800 bodies in Marikina just as the country commemorated All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Pimentel said the Senate local government committee should investigate the alleged practice of emptying tombs with expired leases and transferring the remains without the families’ consent.

He also wants to know if the rental scheme is being done in other cemeteries nationwide, saying that it “is not a good setup to be hostaged by the bones and remains of departed loved ones.”

He made the call after 800 sacks of bodies were found dumped at an open area in Barangka public cemetery after their five-year “rental period” expired.

“The timing is so bad, just when it should be a time to visit and pray for our departed loved ones. The local government unit should have come up with a program for those who cannot afford a permanent burial,” Pimentel said in a dwIZ interview yesterday.

The Marikina city council should also investigate the incident at the same cemetery where a syndicate is allegedly behind the scheme of emptying tombs with expired leases to rent them out at exorbitant prices.

“Whoever thought of this is assured of cash flow because families are bound to pay rent forever. This should be investigated in a public hearing so that we would understand the situation on the ground,” Pimentel said.

He added the city government under Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro cannot wash its hands of the controversy.

He cited the Local Government Code that the city or municipal government is responsible for the public cemeteries.

He also cited the Marikina City Ordinance 020-2010, which states that the exhumation of bodies should have the consent of the families and the permission of the health office.

“It is clear that the city government allowed this to happen. We should hold them accountable and ensure that this neglect won’t happen again,” Pimentel said in a previous statement.

“It is saddening that some families won’t be able to offer candles at the gravesites of their loved ones. Let us pray for the dead and for the enlightenment of our leaders,” he added.

Charges for violating the city’s Sanitation Code have already been filed against the cemetery administrator and five others, according to Teodoro.