Nearly 1 million visit Manila North Cemetery despite rains

MANILA, Philippines — Inclement weather did not stop at least 980,000 Filipinos from visiting their departed loved ones at the Manila North Cemetery to mark All Saints’ Day yesterday.

The figure is nearly four times the number of visitors last year at 250,000, when government restrictions due to the COVID pandemic were in place.

Some visitors settled for lighting candles at a rotunda near the main gate, usually done by those who could no longer locate the tombs of their departed loved ones within the cemetery.

Others posed for photos in front of tombs of prominent personalities in the cemetery.

Among those buried there are former presidents Ramon Magsaysay, Sergio Osmeña and Manuel Roxas, film and television icons Fernando Poe Jr. and his wife Susan Roces, and American governor-general Francis Burton Harrison.

The estimated 500-square-meter lot for the Osmeñas, where Sergio and his wife Esperanza Limjap are buried, will remain for as long as their grandchildren wish, according to “Joel,” the man guarding their graves.

The upkeep of these heritage graves will depend on the relatives, Manila North Cemetery administrator Roselle Castañeda said.

Those who wish to do tours of heritage graves must secure permission from the city government, according to Castañeda.

In Parañaque, around 100,000 people visited the Manila Memorial Park yesterday and another 100,000 are expected to visit today.

City police chief Col. Reycon Garduque said the figure is more than the number of visitors reported last year.

Around 35 police personnel and 80 force multipliers were deployed to maintain peace and order in the cemetery, Garduque told The STAR.