THE Bacolod City Council approved on Wednesday, February 10, 2021, a resolution requesting Mayor Evelio Leonardia to convene the Bacolod City-owned Cemetery Regulatory Board.
This was in accordance with City Ordinance (CO) No. 08-16-777 or An Ordinance Creating the Bacolod City-owned Cemetery Board.
The resolution, authored by Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr., was approved by the City Council during its regular session on Wednesday.
Gamboa said the Regulatory Board should strictly implement its functions to formulate policies and procedures for proper preservation and maintenance of all city-owned cemeteries.
He said as early as 2017, City Health Office (CHO) findings showed that the Burgos Cemetery needs to be rehabilitated since it was already full and can no longer cater to more interments.
Gamboa noted that CO No. 08-16-777 was approved on June 17, 2016, and chaired by the City Mayor and the City Health Officer as the co-chairman.
Jerome Solinap, head of the General Services Office (GSO), earlier said Leonardia already approved the closure of the Burgos Public Cemetery based on the recommendation of the CHO and GSO.
“Since it’s already closed, there will be no interment or exhumation activities at the cemetery,” Solinap said.
He said the CHO and GSO earlier recommended to the Office of the Mayor to impose the closure of the Burgos public cemetery because it is already overcrowded and the tombs were in disarray.
“Our residents can use the Barangays Handumanan and Granada public cemeteries for the interment activities,” he added.