Manila North Cemetery, the final resting place of FPJ, EDSA, former Presidents

Manila North Cemetery, which welcomes over a million visitors every year during the observance of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, is also the burial ground of prominent personalities in the Philippine history.

In a Facebook post, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno paid tribute to the heroes, senators, Philippine Presidents, and artists.

Three former Presidents of the country are buried in this 54-hectare cemetery that was founded in 1904, namely Manuel Roxas who passed away due to heart attack in 1948, Ramon Magsaysay who perished in a tragic plane crash in 1957, and Sergio Osmeña who died in 1961.

Manuel Quezon was the first President to be interred in the Manila North Cemetery. His bones, however, were transferred to Quezon Memorial Circle in 1979. The remains of his son is entombed in his former grave.

The grave of National Artist for Cinema and 2004 presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. is also found inside the same cemetery.

The remains of personalities who are best remembered by motorists because major thoroughfares in Metro Manila were named after them are also entombed in this cemetery. These are: former senator Claro M. Recto and historian Epifanio Delos Santos or EDSA.

Familiar with the lyrics “Ibon man may layang lumipad, kulungin mo at umiiyak”?

One can also take a peek at the tombstone of the man who penned the poem that gave life to the patriotic song “Bayan Ko,” Jose Corazon de Jesus.

The cemetery also houses memorial sites such as the Boy Scouts Cenotaph to honor the 24 boy scouts killed in a plane crash in 1963; the one dedicated to American teachers who were deployed to the Philippines by the US government in 1901; and the Mauseleo de los Veteranos de la Revolucion that was built for those who sacrificed their life in the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American war.

Aside from commemorating the lives of their departed loved ones during Undas this year, visitors may also consider paying homage to influential people who took part in shaping the country’s identity today.

Last year, the crowd volume in the Manila North Cemetery crossed the one million mark on the afternoon of November 1. — BAP, GMA News