Sapangdaku cemetery project gets City Council’s nod

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Council is not objecting to the building of a new public cemetery in Sitios Patayng Yuta and Baksan in Barangay Sapangdaku.

In a special session on Friday evening, July 17, 2020, the City Council has unanimously agreed to support the transfer of the planned Cebu City Botanical and Memorial Garden from the controversial lot in Barangay Guba to the 2- to 3-hectare lot in Barangay Sapangdaku.

The project, which was initially planned for Barangay Guba, drew the ire of environmentalists in Cebu because the lot belonged to the Central Cebu Protected Landscape (CCPL) and near a watershed.

Read more: DENR-7 to Cebu City: Explain cutting of trees in Guba

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, who is also overseeing the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) in Cebu, personally led the hunt for a better space for the new cemetery, and he suggested the lot in Barangay Sapangdaku.

Considering that the area is outside of the CCPL and does not pose any environmental risks, the City Council has given a go signal for Mayor Edgardo Labella to push through with the project.

“The City Council poses no objection for the establishment of the Cebu City Memorial Garden for COVID-19 victims, subject to the full compliance of the national and local laws, ordinances, rules and regulations and without prejudice to the City Council’s solemn duty to ensure that the public funds are protected and that public accountability must be upheld at all times,” said the City Council.

Read more: Cebu City’s new public cemetery to be transferred in Sapangdaku

The residents of Sapangdaku led by their village chief, Juvie Lagraso, already did not object to the project during the public hearing on Friday.

Lagraso said that the residents of the two sitios were amicable to the project. /dbs