Inside Carreta Cemetery: How a couple raised a family in Cebu’s famous graveyard for 30 years (Part 1)

Celia Ramirez is the matriarch of the Ramirez family who started living inside Carreta Cemetery in 1989 along with her husband, Ereberto and their six children.| CDND PHOTO / Gerard Vincent Francisco

CEBU CITY, Philippines — In the company of the dead, the Ramirez family makes a living. 

It has been so for 30 years when couple Ereberto and Celia Ramirez arrived in Cebu in search of the proverbial greener pastures. 

Celia is from Batangas while Ereberto is from Manila. They tried to look for jobs in the country’s capital but realized that they could never find any means of livelihood that could sustain their family’s needs. 

With the little money that they had left, Celia and Ereberto packed their bags and brought along their two children, Alvin and Arlene, armed with hope that they will be able to start a new life in a different city. 

But they did not know anyone in Cebu. 

They barely had enough money to buy food to appease their rumbling stomachs. 

Walking along from Cebu City’s pier, where the boat from Manila docked after a 24- hour journey, the couple traversed M. J. Cuenco Avenue and found themselves near the Carreta Cemetery. 

Inside one of the mausoleums in the cemetery, the family sought shelter for the day. 

At night, using what they have inside their backpacks to keep them warm against the chilly air, they set up makeshift beds. 

They have never left the mausoleum since then and has since called it “home.”

“Wala koy kwarta atong panahona… diri nalang mi nipuyo sa akong bana ug anak,” Celia, now 59, tells CDN Digital. 

(We did not have money at that time so we chose to live in the cemetery with my husband and children.)

New to the city, the couple blended in and was able to strike a deal with the mausoleum’s caretaker. 

They also learned to speak the language. 

Celia describes the caretaker as the former captain of Barangay Santo Niño. 

Coincidentally, the mausoleum is owned by a prominent family with the same last name as Ereberto and Celia. 

Since then, the Carreta Cemetery has also become a place for work for the Ramirez family. 

At the cemetery, the couple also grew their family. 

Celia gave birth to four more children since they moved to Cebu in 1989. 

All of her children and eventually, her grandchildren, were raised inside the cemetery. 

A worker paints a grave at the Carreta Cemetery to honor the dead on All Souls’ Day on November 2.| CDND PHOTO / Gerard Francisco

Busy days 

November 1 and November 2, the dates when the Cebuano community observes All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, are the busiest time for the Ramirez family. 

Celia says she earns P500 to P1,000 a month from taking care of tombs, mausoleums, and niches. 

The bigger the tomb, the bigger the asking price. This job has placed food on the table and sustained her family’s needs for years. 

Aside from caring for tombs, she also sold candle wax to candle makers. 

She scratched melted wax off of tombs and sold them to candle makers at P5  per ball of wax. 

In 2005, Ereberto passed away due to tetanus infection. He was buried at the Carreta Cemetery. 

When Ereberto was alive, he was the caretaker of over 20 mausoleums and tombs. 

He also built gates and railings around the tombs depending on the request of clients. 

November 1 and November 2 are the merry days for the family as their earnings can go as high as P20, 000. 

The money is earned from selling candles, cleaning tombs, and building railings. 

Celia says her children grew up helping the family earn money from collecting candle wax and cleaning tombs. 

Her children got married and built families of their own. 

They too made the cemetery as their home. 

Safe and secure 

Looking back, Celia shares, the thought of living in a place considered to be the final destination of the physical body never sent chills down her spine. 

Her opinion is echoed by her daughter, Arlene, who was only three years old when they moved to Cebu. 

“Mas mahadlok pa kos buhi kaysa sa patay. Ang patay malinawon naman nang nipahuway, ang buhi, pwede gyud mi nila hilabtan,” says Arlene. 

(We are more scared of the living than the dead. The dead are peacefully at rest. The living, on the other hand, can hurt us.)

The eastern part of the Carreta Cemetery used to be dark before it was lit in 2009. Drug addicts and robbers were mainstay in the area, according to Arlene Ramirez, who lived in the cemetery since 1989 with her parents and siblings. | CDND PHOTO / Gerard Vincent Francisco

Arlene says their area inside the  cemetery was not lit for many years. 

This allowed crimes to proliferate inside the cemetery with informal settlers joining gangs or becoming drug addicts and robbers. 

“Pagbata namo, alas sais sa gabii pa lang, dapat naa na gyud mi sa sulod sa balay. Tulog na gyud mi ana kay daghang adik-adik, manghilabot o mangawat,” says Arlene. 

(When we were young, when it’s already 6 p.m., we were told that we should be inside the house. We should be asleep. There were many drug addicts roaming around pestering us or they would steal.)

In 2016, when President Rodrigo Duterte declared the war on drugs, Arlene says they noticed a significant decrease of lawless elements in their area. 

This has continued on to this day. 

But it does not mean that their nightmares are over. 

Arlene says they live in constant fear of being evicted from their home. 

She is scared that the owners will one day return and reclaim the mausoleum. 

For now, Arlene and the rest of the growing Ramirez clan inside Carreta Cemetery is taking their situation one day at a time, just as they have been doing in the last 30 years. / celr