Columbaries to be set up at Doña Pepang cemetery

COLUMBARIES  or vaults to contain ashes of the dead will replace sites occupied by settlers in the  Doña Pepang Cemetery in Cebu City.

“The clearing of the houses and the construction of the columbary will be the first phase of the city’s project to convert the cemetery into a park,” said Collin Rosell, chief of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP).

He said they will soon resume meetings with relatives of those buried inside the cemetery.

He said DWUP  will finalize the list of names of the deceased whose  remains will stay and those that will be removed prior to transfer to  columbaries to be built by the city government.

Of 150 families who have relatives interred in  the  Roman Catholic cemetery, Rosell said half of them expressed interest to  transfer the remains of their loved ones to another cemetery.

“They already decided to take the remains of their loved ones due to issues on order, sanitation, presence of settlers and other unwanted activities going on there. So there’s really a need to uplift the area,” he said.

Rosell said DWUP  will continue meeting the heirs  to discuss the final design for the “Heritage Park” project of the city.

The  project has an approved P30-million budget under the Parks and Playgrounds Commission.

Architect Socorro Atega  said they already have an “unofficial design” for the Heritage Park.

Atega’s design showed that  columbaries will be built on both sides of the area occupied by the settlers who will be moved out.

The Doña Pepang Mausoleum of the Osmeña family will also be retained as the major piece in the park.

An amphitheater will also be built behind the Osmeña Mausoleum.

The 40 families whose structures will be cleared in the cemetery will be transferred to the re-blocked fire site.

Cebu City Hall’s demolition team is set to remove the shanties in the cemetery this week.