Kalag-Kalag: Mandaue cemeteries visitors on Nov. 1 hit 12,160

Police say they have recorded a total of 12,160 people visiting cemeteries in Mandaue as of 6 p.m. today, November 1. | Mary Rose Sagarino

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Thousands of  people visited the cemeteries in Mandaue City on Friday, November 1.

As of 6 p.m, the Mandaue City Police Office recorded 12,160 individuals who visited their departed loved ones.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Mercy Villaro, MCPO spokesperson, said that the influx of individuals were recorded during very early morning and late afternoon.

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There are eight cemeteries in Mandaue City. Four of which including St. Joseph’s Parish Roman Catholic Cemetery, Fortuna Cemetery, Manpark Cemetery and Grosmar Memorial Garden are located in Barangay Guizo.

The other four cemeteries are the public cemeteries in Barangays Pagsabungan and Jagobiao, Angelicum Garden of Angels in Barangay Canduman and Cebu Memorial Park which crosses Barangay Banilad in Cebu City and Banilad, Mandaue City.

Despite the large number of people, no Kalag-Kalag related incidents were monitored.

Police Colonel Julius Sagandoy, MCPO city director, said that the observance was generally peaceful and orderly.

“As far as two days ago, we already started our visitation dito sa mga cemeteries natin. So far, makikita naman natin maganda peace and order situation and ang deployed personnel natin dito is already in place to see to it oùr cemetery goers will be safe and secured,” said Sagandoy.

(As far as two days ago, we already started our visitation here in our cemeteries. So far, we saw that the peace and order situation is good and the deployed personnel here is already in place to see to it our cemetery goers will be salfe and secured.)

While its generally peaceful, some prohibited items were confiscated by the police from visitors that include a knife, scissors, and lighters. 

“Naa mi naconfiscate nga mga martilyo, sharp pointed objects, amoa lang pod gipabilin nila. Bawal na siya karun. Even ang mga pintal ug butane amoang giconfiscate kay supposedly nanglimpyo sila beforehand,” said Police Major Jovito Labra, ground commander of the clustered cemeteries in Brgy. Guizo.

(We have confiscated hammer, sharp pointed objects, we just let them leave it behind. It is prohibited for now. Even the paints and butane, we confiscated them because they were supposedly cleaning beforehand.)

The MCPO deployed a total of 308 personnel. Aside from MCPO the response clusters were also deployed such as the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, Bureau of Fire and Protection, City Health Office, and Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM). About a hundred force multipliers have also helped with the monitoring.

The city’s Mobile Command Center which serves as command post is also stationed at the cluster cemeteteries in Barangay Guizo. It is equipped with modern CCTV cameras and drones that monitor the happenings in the area.

Based on Executive Order no. 47 series of 2024 of Mayor Glenn Bercede public cemeteries may  open 24 hours until November 3, but overnight stay is prohibited. The St. Joseph Cemetery informed that their visiting hours will only be until midnight.