An open tomb in an abandoned cemetery in Barangay Kataasan, Dinalupihan, Bataan. (Photo by Ernie Esconde)
DINALUPIHAN, Bataan -- For more or less eight years now, an abandoned cemetery in a village here has remained unattended and uncared for, becoming a frequent subject of horror tales by the locals.
With most of the graves already opened and the bones transferred to other burial grounds, a few remaining ones in the closed cemetery of Barangay Kataasan in this town are almost hidden in the middle of trees, shrubs and tall grasses.
Geny Magisa, 23, also complained of big mosquitoes while cleaning the apartment-style tombs of his grandmother, mother and another relative, which are among the few graves left.
“Hindi ko tiyak kung ilan pa ang naglilinis dahil sa ngayon ako lang ang naglilinis. Meron mangilan-ngilan diyan sa unahan (I am not sure how many are still cleaning because as of now, I am the only one. There is a few at the front),” he said when asked how many graves were still intact and being attended to.
The tombs of his relatives were in the middle of opened graves and thick vines.
Asked why they have not transferred the bones of his kin, Magisa said they do not have money yet.
Near the gate of the cemetery that is believed to be already 100 years old, stands an acacia tree of the same age, near rows of houses.
Artel Aguilar, 38, said residents in the neighborhood often tell stories of many mysterious occurrences near the cemetery, particularly close to the acacia tree.
According to Aguilar, there are residents who have claimed seeing a Japanese soldier haunting the area.
She narrated that once, she had a strange feeling of being extremely weak while sweeping in front of the acacia tree.
Minerva Mercado, 62, also a resident of the area, recalled that the acacia tree was already big even when she was still a child and that only a few were buried in the cemetery.
Kataasan village councilor Lando Guevarra is hoping that the abandoned cemetery would soon be donated to the barangay so that it could be used for some other projects.
He said they were informed that the closed cemetery is owned by the Catholic Church but they do not know what the religious leaders' plans are.
Guevarra said that burial in the cemetery was stopped sometime between 2008 to 2010.
Records at the planning section of the Dinalupihan municipal government showed that the abandoned cemetery has an area of more or less 6,000 square meters. (PNA)
