In the quiet outskirts of Bogo City, Cebu, the New Corazon Cemetery in Barangay Sambag stretches across several hectares of land. For decades, it has been the final resting place of thousands of Bogohanons. But tucked in one corner of this vast burial ground lies a unique sight, a cluster of makeshift shelters locals fondly call the “Payag-Payag”.
These humble structures, made from plywood, tin sheets, metal, and tarpaulins, are not homes for the living but for the dead and for the love that refuses to fade.
After five years, when a burial term in the cemetery expires, the remains is exhumed and transferred to a bone chamber, a process that costs around P15,000. Many families, however, cannot afford the expense. For them, that is money better spent on the living. So instead of paying for a new niche or bone chamber, they choose to rebuild their loved ones’ resting places in the “Payag-Payag” section, a place free of charge but full of memories.
Lando Bentulan, the head sepulturero (cemetery caretaker) who has tended New Corazon Cemetery for 45 years, knows every path and corner of the grounds. To him, the “Payag-Payag” is more than a makeshift graveyard, it is a testament to devotion.
Bentulan and his small crew are working tirelessly to clean the area and install lights for All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day, so that visitors can safely come at night.
“Buhi gihapon ning dapita basta kalag-kalag (This place is alive whenever it’s All Souls’ Day),” he said.
As dusk falls over Bogo, the “Payag-Payag” glows, not from grand tombstones or marble crosses, but from candles flickering inside small makeshift shelters. Here, love shines quietly, proving that even in the simplest corners of a cemetery, remembrance endures stronger than stone.