Final Destination in Atom Araullo Specials

A few days before All Soul’s Day, The Atom Araullo Specials gives viewers stories that center on death.

Atom looks into the practices Filipinos observe to remember their dead. He goes to a public cemetery where he meets Mang Pinoy. A sepulcher for two decades now, he knows who among laid there have not been visited by their families. Atom witnesses how Mang Pinoy drills a hole into a tomb to excavate the remains of the dead.

Meanwhile, those who died without families claiming their bodies end up in mass graves. Some relatives, due to poverty, also choose to bury their loved ones in a mass grave. From 2014 to 2016, three of Nanay Maria’s children died consecutively. Two of them were able to have a proper burying place but because she has no more money, one of them ended up in a mass grave.

Some Filipinos choose to have their dead loved ones close to them — literally. JB had necklaces customized so that each carries the ashes of his best friend Earl. He gave these necklaces to Earl’s wife and child, as well as their other friends.

It’s true that problems do not cease to exist in death, especially if the ones left behind are to shoulder the expenses. Just like the case of Lola Dorotea whose eight-year-old grandchild died of dengue.

Lola Dorotea has no source of income but she needs to shoulder the costs for the internment and burial. How will she be able to raise the amount needed for these? The Atom Araullo Specials:

Final Destination airs today at 4:30 p.m. on GMA 7.