BACOLOD City General Services Office (GSO) head Jerome Solinap recommended the immediate suspension of interment activities at the Burgos public cemetery.
Solinap, who submitted his recommendation to Mayor Evelio Leonardia on November 21, said Thursday the city should stop the interment activities at the cemetery because it is already overcrowded and the tombs were in disarray.
He said several tombs were constructed in the pathways, while lost graves were due to lack of space.
On November 1 and 2, Solinap received some complaints that the tombs of their loved ones at Burgos Public Cemetery were missing.
The GSO along with the City Legal Office (CLO) investigated the incident and called the attention of caretaker Ricardo Repogio.
Solinap said he also recommended the deployment of six personnel from Public Order and Safety Office for three shifts to secure the area from any trespassers or prevent the conduct of any illegal activity.
“I also recommend the exhumation of corpses buried five years or more and depositing their skeletal remains in an ossuary or bone box to maximize the space inside the cemetery and allow its structural rehabilitation once the misplaced graves are put to order,” he said.
The 12 illegal settlers inside the cemetery also promised to vacate on December 31.
Solinap said that he will wait for the final decision of Leonardia to address the problem and to develop the Burgos Public Cemetery as well as the Barangay Handumanan Public Cemetery.
The City Government had earlier allocated P4 million for the improvement of Barangay Handumanan Cemetery.
Meanwhile, Solinap on Thursday ordered Repogio to remove the Christmas donation box at the entrance of the cemetery.
Solinap said he will make a recommendation to Leonardia to reprimand the caretaker because it is illegal.