Closed cemetery to be developed like Paco Park

DINALUPIHAN, Bataan – The Catholic cemetery in Barangay Kataasan of this town, where burials were stopped six years ago will be developed similar to Paco Park in Manila, Fr. Rene de Leon, parish priest said Friday. Though he could not give concrete details yet, he said that an ossuary will probably be built around the perimeter of the cemetery and Holy Masses will be held in the planned park.

The priest said the development was delayed due to some problems in the land title but he said this was already fixed. “The diocese of Balanga is working on a new survey to segregate the barangay roads that belong to the cemetery from the original title,” he said. The diocese will be spending for the project, said de Leon who is on his fifth year as parish priest of Dinalupihan.

On the residents living around the cemetery, de Leon asked them to give respect to the place, saying the area is still a sacred ground. He appealed to them to keep the area clean and see to it that no garbage are dumped. “The people who can best maintain the cleanliness of the place so it will not pose hazard to health are the residents themselves,” the priest said.

On the remaining tombs still intact, de Leon said the church is giving the relatives the chance to transfer the bones to other burial grounds while a new land survey is being prepared. De Leon said the cemetery was closed because there was no more available space to accommodate burials.