BACOLOD City – The General Services Office (GSO) will give a 15-day ultimatum to informal settlers to vacate the Burgos Public Cemetery in this city.
Jerome Solinap, GSO head, said there are at least five individuals residing inside the cemetery, which was closed to the public after it ran out of burial space. Tombs and niches are also in a topsy-turvy arrangement obstructing passageways.
“Since it’s already closed, there will be no interment or exhumation activities at the cemetery,” Solinap said.
Those who want to visit the tombs of their loved ones are only allowed to enter, he added.
The GSO coordinated with the Bacolod Housing Authority (BHA) to determine if the five individuals, who are living inside the cemetery, can be transferred to the city’s relocation site.
On Monday, Solinap asked Victoria Parreñas, head of the Bacolod Housing Authority, to assess the situation of these individuals.
If proven that they are not qualified beneficiaries at the relocation sites, the informal settlers will be evicted in the area, said Parreñas.
Parreñas, for his part, said the BHA will conduct a socioeconomic survey today.
Last year, Parreñas said Solinap also submitted a list of 10 individuals for the same purpose and some of the names therein were the same names in the list submitted on Monday.
According to Parreñas, some of these persons were not qualified because it came out during the survey that they already have existing houses.
These individuals are staying in the cemetery to earn a living by vending variety of goods while others are extending services, such as cleaning tombs.
“The five individuals have been there for several years already and they need to vacate the cemetery,” Solinap said.
Other public cemeteries of this city are in barangays Granada and Handumanan./PN
