By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Bacolod City Councilor Wilson Gamboa, Jr. recently endorsed a letter to Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia requesting the cemetery regulatory board be immediately convened, following the General Services Office (GSO) recommendation for the closure of the Burgos Public Cemetery.

In a copy of the request provided to Watchmen Daily Journal, Gamboa said the City Health Office (CHO) also recently conducted an assessment of the cemetery and agreed with the GSO, endorsing its closure due to overcrowding.

Gamboa also said he has received several complaints from constituents, who report they are unable to locate the tombs of their loved ones because others have constructed tombs on top of existing ones.

He called the cemetery’s arrangement “topsy-turvy,” saying it is in violation of Chapter XXI of the Sanitation Code of the Philippines.

“There is a need to convene the Bacolod City-Owned Cemetery Regulatory Board to address the concerns of the public and to secure that its operations are within the framework of our existing local and national policies and legislations,” Gamboa added.

Earlier, Bacolod City Councilor Caesar Distrito stated he would call for a public hearing after GSO head Jerome Solinap recommended the closure of the cemetery and for the city to establish a new public cemetery.

Distrito, who chairs the committee on urban planning and general services of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), presumed Leonardia was aware of the situation at the cemetery, adding the SP would act on the matter once Leonardia endorses the proposal.

Solinap suggested remains that have been buried for five years be exhumed and relocated to a smaller area of the cemetery in order to clear parts of the cemetery.

The issue stemmed during the recent All Souls’ Day observance after several visitors complained to police of having trouble locating the tombs of their loved ones./DGB, WDJ