Otherworldly visits

Living in a cemetery also creeps the residents out. When Lolo Roque was new, he would never venture out of his house at night, even with a companion. “No’ng unang-una, hindi mo ko mapapalakad sa labas pag gabi na” (When I was new, you can’t make me walk outside when it was nighttime) He still gets visits from entities, such as white ladies, he says.

Like Lolo Roque, Aling Chedeng also saw a white lady. She got scared, and accosted her mother. “Ano ba naman itong ipinamana mo sa’kin? Ayoko na rito!” (What kind of job did you make me inherit? I want to leave!), she recounts mirthfully.

She still sees these beings, but she shrugs them off; she no longer fears them. “Ngayon hindi na. Masasanay ka ri,n e” (I’m no longer afraid. You get used to it), Aling Chedeng says.

Problems in Paradise

Though not exactly a life of luxury, the residents are already content with their lifestyle. Says Aling Luz, “Simple lang naman kami mamuhay dito” (We lead a simple life here)

However, there are threats to their tranquil existence in the land of the dead.

One of which, Aling Luz reveals, is threat of demolition inside the cemetery. “Yung mga bahay ng mga nakatira dito, dine-demolish May isang umupo dito mahigpit talaga, sinusunog lahat ng makitang mga ano. Pero pag may authorize sa may-ari, di ka maaano. Katulad sa ‘min may papel akong hawak pinirmahan. Di kami masamang tao. Nilalabas ko lang ‘yon kapag may demolition pag may mga truck ng demolition iyon inilalabas ko yun.” (The houses of the people living here are being demolished. There was a Mayor who was so strict. He burned all the houses he can see in here. But if there’s an authorization from the owner you won’t be touched. Like our family. We have the contract with the owner to prove that we are not bad people, we are occupying his land with his consent. I bring out the paper when there are trucks that carry out the demolitions), she shares.

“Kay Mayor Atienza, kay Mayor Lim, mga mayor ng Maynila. Mga walang-hiya talaga nag-susumbong…” (During the term of Mayor [Lito] Atienza, as well as Mayor [Alfredo] Lim’s, the mayors of Manila. Shame on the tattle-tales), she replied when asked when these demolitions happened.

“E kasi, tirahan talaga ito ng mga patay. Matitigas lang talaga mga ulo namin” (Because this is a home for the dead. We are just really hard-headed), explains Aling Chedeng.

They say that they have never been on the receiving end of the government’s housing program, which is why they chose to stay in the cemetery. “Kasi, walang nag-aalok” (No one has ever offered me a house), says Aling Chedeng.

“Sa dami ng nakatira rito, mahihirapan silang bigyan lahat” (With our number they will have a hard time giving all the residents here homes outside), Aling Luz exclaims.

Aling Chedeng says that former Mayor Mel Lopez gave away houses and lots to the residents there. These were all located in Cavite. “Kung sa’n-sa’ng lupalop. Nagsisibalikan yung mga binigyan, e wala naman hanapbuhay, dito rin sila nagsusumiksik” (To very remote places. Those who were given land came back here. They couldn’t find jobs there, and so they went back. )

Drug addicts also abound in their area. “Lahat ng masasama, nandito na ‘ata” (It seems all kinds of bad persons live here), Aling Luz says. Which is why she never lets her children (all grown-up) wander outside their home when night falls. “Sabi ko sa kanila, ite-text nila ako pag nasa gate na sila para sunduin ko sila” (I tell them to send me a text message when they are already at the cemetery’s gate so that I can come and fetch them). Then they just watch the television inside their home.

It was, definitely, a different kind of exposure for me. Here were real people telling me that life in a cemetery is certainly no picnic. Here were faces with names, recounting their experience of getting by with so little. Here was concrete proof of the existence in the Philippines of poverty, a mere seven-letter word to most of those originating from my class.

Here were people marginalized, thought of as dead, just like their “wards.”

The experience underscored the government’s lukewarm response in ultimately solving this glaring example of a housing problem. I may be young, and I may not have majored in any course yet, but I don’t need a diploma in any course to know that something is seriously wrong with a government that thinks taking people away from their livelihood (to be relocated to one of the government’s housing program sites) is the solution to solving a serious housing problem.

And I don’t need to be a genius to know that destroying their houses will not solve the problem either. (Bulatlat.com)

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