Bantayan folk repair Yolanda-hit cemeteries

UNFINISHED. A worker poses in one of the cemeteries in Bantayan whose roof was blown away by supertyphoon Yolanda.
(CDN Photo/Peter L. Romanillos)

When supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name Haiyan) unleashed its fury in Bantayan Island and in parts of northern Cebu last year, it not only destroyed the homes of the living. It also damaged the homes of the dead.

In Bantayan town located 137 kilometers away from Cebu City, three of its cemeteries were not spared from Yolanda’s onslaught last Nov. 8, 2013.

These cemeteries are situated beside each other in a one-hectare lot in barangay Ticad, located five minutes away from the town proper.

Each are managed by different groups—a Catholic parish, the Aglipayan church and private persons.

Repairs
A number of small mausoleums in the three cemeteries remain roofless while some of the tombstones were cracked open due to the impact of the fallen debris.

Alex Abanco, who has several family members buried in the cemetery, said his family and neighbors had to prioritize rebuilding their own houses first before repairing the tombs of their loved ones.

But as All Souls’ Day approached, Abanco said he and his relatives set aside money to change the roof over the graves where his relatives were laid with aluminum G.I. sheets.

To save on labor costs, Abanco was helped by two neighbors in repairing the roof.

More affordable
At least 24 people died in the towns of Sta. Fe, Bantayan and Madridejos.

In the St. Peter Cemetery and St. Paul Cemetery, workers commissioned by the local parish spruced up the newly-renovated chapel in the area.

After the storm Msgr. Alfredo Romanillos, the town’s parish priest, said he immediately went to the cemetery to check on the condition of the unfinished bone chamber.

Instead of acquiring lots for the graves, he said they decided to build a bone chamber since it is more affordable for families to rent at P200 a year.

He said the bone chamber wasn’t affected but the chapels roof was gone.

Old

“It was really a hard time for the parish especially with the millions we needed for the repairs in the church,” he said.

While manning the repairs in the chapel one day, he said a stranger approached him and offered to shoulder part of the costs for the repair.

Romanillos said the person was a “balikbayan” who was in town to check on the condition of his relatives.

He said the parish spent P200,000 to renovate the chapel and fix the fallen sculpted images and the cross at the entrance of the cemetery.

“I think it was really the time to renovate the chapel because it’s old. We also made it bigger because a lot of people go there to hear Mass. We had to change the roof, the balusters, a lot,” Fr. Romanillos said.

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