Great divide at final resting place

MANILA, Philippines — Death is the great equalizer. That is, until you reach your final resting place, which, depending on your family’s purchasing power, could be simply pretty or pretty simple.

At the Immaculate Garden Memorial Park in San Jose, Navotas City, for instance, modest tombs and graves abound. One of those who afforded a humble grave for a loved one is 73-year-old widow Beatrice Dianzon.

Beatrice said the remains of her daughter Josephine, who died of cancer at the age of 36 only last April, lies in a small lot that she bought for P100,000. “Hinulugan ko lang yan, syempre (I paid through installment of course),” she said on Saturday.

Finding comfort in a complete stranger, Beatrice also revealed to this reporter that the bones of her late husband Rafael – who died way back in 1987 – were taken from its old grave and buried together with Josephine’s remains.

“Naisip ko na iyon ang praktikal na gawin para hindi na ako mahirapan sa pagdalaw sa kanila (I thought it was the practical thing to do, to make it easier for me to visit them).”

The septuagenarian, a vegetable vendor, shared that her daughter’s passing was still fresh on her mind. “Araw-araw akong pumupunta dito, nagdadala ako ng kahit isang bulaklak lang. Sa Lunes babalik ako na may dalang mas magagandang bulaklak, yung halagang P300.” (I come here daily. I make it a point to bring flowers even if it’s just one stem. On Monday, I’ll come back and bring a bouquet of flowers, the one that cost P300.)

Flowers just make up one of many gifts that Filipino-Chinese families offer to their departed kin. At the Manila Chinese Cemetery, the tombs of the dead are adorned with food (must be seven kinds), red or white dragon-emblazoned candles (P100 to P260 per pair, depending on size), prayer sticks (P10 per bundle) and small red banners (P7 apiece), among others.

“Sometimes we don’t even know what these things mean. But they’re traditions and we follow them anyway,” said CBS News reporter Barnaby Lo, 29, who on Saturday visited his grandparents enshrined in a mausoleum – a familiar sight in the Chinese cemetery.

To end their visit, Barnaby and his family burned paper money referred to as “kim” (P12 per “lapad”), another ritual intended to pay respects to the family’s dead.

“The silver (colored) money is for our grandmother, who just died recently. For our grandfather, who died in 1967, we burn gold money for him. We can burn as much paper money as we want,” he explained.

Over in a public burial ground like the Navotas City Cemetery, it’s the bare essentials that matter for its visitors, as sepulchers there end up looking quite bare.

Two pints of white paint (P17 each), two slender candles (P10 each) and a prayer was all the “offering” that 42-year-old Josephine Javier brought for her departed father and mother-in-law, both buried – rather renting – in the particular cemetery.

This is because the remains are temporarily housed within apartment-style capsule tombs, which cost P1,000 for a five-year usage. These “apartments for the dead” can reach seven levels or more.

Josephine said she planned to repaint her late relatives’ epitaphs herself to save money. “Yung mga squatter dito sa loob ng sementeryo, pwede sila magpinta para sa iyo for P60. Pero gusto maka-menos kaya ako na lang (The squatters living inside the cemetery can do the painting for you for P60. But I wanted to save so I did it myself).”

The woman said that she would have been able to pinch more pennies had the candles been sold at regular price. “Dino-doble kasi nila ang presyo kapag Undas (They double the price when it’s All Saints’ Day).”

Apparently, buying even a single flower didn’t cross Josephine’s mind on Saturday. But she did bring over her two children, who may be too young to even remember the persons inside the tombs there were visiting.

Ellson Quismoro, Manila Bulletin