Questionable practices found at funeral parlor in Cebu City

CEBU, Philippines —  Bodies on the floor, cadavers inside a freezer meant for food, workers not wearing personal protective equipment.

These are scenes from a funeral parlor in Barangay Basak, Cebu City that Councilor David Tumulak witnessed during an inspection on Sunday, August 15, 2021, something that he said is not the best way to treat the dead.

He conducted the inspection following a report of a concerned citizen of what appeared to be a dead body being delivered to the area.

“Pag Sunday, naay ni report nako nga naay nakit-an mga nag-deliver og patay. Pagka- midnight, didto mi, among gi-check. Naa gyuy naghatud og patay’ng lawas. Na-shock na lang ta, mga patay naa ra sa sawg. Naa pay unom ka freezers sud mga patayng lawas,” Tumulak said.

The location in question is an old morgue of St. Bernard Funeral Homes built in 2008 near the N. Bacalso underpass. The morgue is dilapidated that people outside can take a peek at what’s inside.

A video Tumulak shareed later showed several bodies wrapped in cloth laid on the floor at the morgue with workers wearing nothing but plain clothes. A chest freezer, which is not built for storing cadavers, contained three bodies of people who reportedly died from COVID-19.

Up to 16 bodies were found at the morgue. Some of these have reportedly been there since 2020 and others were never claimed by family members.

Tumulak said they found out that several of the bodies came from other funeral homes for which families of the dead would pay a storage fee.

“Ubang mga funeral homes, adto pud mag-store og cadavers and they admitted that kining sa St. Bernard, magbayad diay ang mga family ani nila separately ug P13,000 for the first night nya succeeding days P8,000 for the storage,” Tumulak said.

The city legal office is now looking into the matter to identify possible legal violations.    

“Wa na gyud tay problema sa mga lubnganan and kahibalo na sila (funeral parlors) ana. We already informed them. Duda mi binuang gyud ni’s mga punerarya nga pangwartahon gyud ang mga nangamatyan… kanang walay luna kuno sa minteryo, nagpaabot pa sa cremation, para makabayad og abang or storage fee,” Tumulak said.

Owner SJ Palomar told reporters on Tuesday they are but helping other funeral parlors by providing storage space. He also denied reports that foul smell has emitted from the building. He said all the bodies in storage have already been embalmed.

COVID Deaths

Tumulak reminded funeral parlors of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) rule in dealing with the remains of those who died from COVID-19.

“Ang IATF naay guidelines nga dapat ilubong within 12 hours ang mga COVID-related deaths,” Tumulak said.

DOH spokesperson, Maria Rosario Vergeire, also said even suspected and probable cases of COVID-19 have to be treated as COVID-19 cases.

“Mayroon tayong polisiya… lahat po ng namamatay ng mga infectious diseases kasama na ang COVID-19 ay kailangang mailibing o di kaya mai-cremate within 12 hours… yung mga namamatay na mga suspects and probable COVID-19 cases, kahit wala silang confirmed RT-PCR test results, they are supposed to treat them as COVID-19 cases,” she said.

The body must not also be embalmed and must be placed in a double bag and sealed appropriately. Once sealed, the bag should not be opened.

Burial space

Tumulak said they have told funeral parlors to coordinate with the city health department so that they can be advised how they should manage the dead, especially that the city has already addressed the problem of burial space.

“Wa naman ta nagproblema og kalubngan sa mga patay. They just have to coordinate with the City Health Department on this,” Tumulak said.

He said the city is on its way to building a columbarium at two cemeteries to address the issue of burial space, not only for COVID deaths but for all deaths in the city.

Msgr. Roger Fuentes, Team Moderator of the Archdiocesan Shrine of San Nicolas de Tolentino who oversees an overcrowded Calamba Cemetery welcomed the project.

Fuentes said they have already asked for clearance from Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma for a four-story columbarium.

Aside from the columbarium, the city is also waiting for the arrival of a 20-footer freezer van for cadavers. — Decemay P. Padilla and Rowena D. Capistrano, JMO (FREEMAN)