DENR STOPS CEBU CITY CEMETERY PROJECT
CEBU CITY—THE
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has stopped the Cebu City government from developing a lot for a new cemetery for cutting trees in the site without a permit.
Mardione de los Reyes, forester at the Enforcement and Monitoring Section of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office, said some 300 mahogany trees at Sitio (subvillage) Katives in Barangay Guba, where the Cebu City Botanical Memorial Garden will rise, were cut without a permit.
The development surprised Cebu City Councilor David Tumulak, the proponent of an ordinance for the creation of a city-owned cemetery to address the lack of burial places in the city, mainly for those who died of or suspected to have been afflicted with the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
During a public consultation held on Wednesday, Tumulak said they were told by the DENR that mahogany is not considered an endangered species.
“I just learned on Thursday that a restraining order was issued by the DENR,” he said in an interview.
Tumulak said Cerila Alcantara, the caretaker of the Muslim cemetery in Barangay Guba who planted the mahogany trees on the city-owned lot, did not oppose the cutting of the trees.
Urgent need
The councilor called on the DENR, the Department of Health, and the city government to talk things over and find ways to address the concerns.
“If there are certain permits to be secured, the executive department can work on that. We will follow the rules. I just hope that they (DENR) won’t make it too complicated considering the urgency of the matter,” he said.
Tumulak said Cebu City badly needed a new cemetery since all 11 private and 15 public cemeteries here were overcrowded.
“Our cemeteries are really full. What will we do with dead bodies in our city? I hope by God’s grace, we will be able to go on with our pan to have a new cemetery,” he said.
Tumulak said there had been a surge in the number of deaths in the city, not just of persons confirmed with COVID-19, but also of individuals suspected to have contracted the virus in addition to those who died due to other causes.
“Most of the existing public cemeteries in Cebu City, mostly owned and managed by the Archdiocese of Cebu, are full and can no longer accommodate additional burials. This may lead to the delay in the burial of a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 fatality, which may cause the further spread of the virus and will add to the problems faced by the city,” he said.
Fully booked
The Cebu City government earlier reported that bodies have remained in hospital morgues as funeral homes and crematoriums were fully booked.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government, in its Memorandum Circular No. 2020-063, ordered the burial, preferably through cremation, of persons suspected to have contracted COVID-19 or those who tested positive for the virus within 12 hours after his or her death.
“Given this 12-hour period requirement for burial, funeral parlors are recently always at full capacity. Adding to this problem is the high cost of cremation,” Tumulak said.
An ordinary burial costs between P10,000 and P20,000 while the cremation fee ranges from P30,000 to P60,000.
“While many Cebuanos go for cremation of their loved ones, there are still those who cannot afford it, that’s why we need a cemetery,” he said.
Tumulak’s proposed ordinance stated that strict guidelines should be implemented in the creation of a new cemetery in Guba to ensure that the buried bodies will not damage the environment, especially that the project is near the protected landscape of Cebu.
Cebu City has recorded over 7,000 COVID-19 cases, with 336 deaths as of Friday.