Manila North Cemetery will be open during Undas

For the first time since the pandemic hit, Manila North Cemetery will be open to visitors during Undas.

According to Mark Salazar’s “24 Oras” report on Thursday, the cemetery will be open to the public from October 29 to November 2, including All Saints' Day on November 1 and All Souls' Day on November 2.

Visitors must be vaccinated against COVID-19, while children aged 12 and below will still not be permitted to enter the cemetery.

“Sa datos ng Department of Health [DOH] pati na ng vaccine namin, sila po yung pinakamababa ang rate na mababa ang bilang ng nagpabakuna. Syempre hindi naman po natin mao-observe talaga yung physical distancing natin dito, kahit open-air po tayo ay magsuot pa rin po tayo ng face masks,” said cemetery director Roselle Castañeda.

(Accoring to DOH data, children 12 years old and younger have the lowest vaccination rate. And since we will not be able to really observe physical distancing during Undas, even though it is open-air people must still wear masks.) 

The Manila North Cemetery and other cemeteries across the National Capital Region and nationwide were closed during Undas in 2020 and 2021 over concerns of superspreading the COVID-19 virus.

Liquor, bladed materials, and firearms are banned from the cemetery premises, and vendors will also be prohibited.

Meanwhile, burial inside the Manila North Cemetery will be permitted until October 28 and resume on November 3.

The last day for cleaning of tombstones in the cemetery will be on October 25.

Clearing the tombstones of pets who were buried in the cemetery are also part of the preparations.

The management of the Manila North Cemetery said that they do not process the burial of pets and are not a pet cemetery.

“Nilalagyan na nila ng lapida pero ‘yan po ay hindi dumadaan sa opisina. Hindi po namin inalis yung mga buto nandyan po ‘yan, ang tanging inalis lang po namin yung mga lapida at the same time hindi na po namin siya ina-allowed malibingan,” Castañeda said.

(They put headstones but those are not authorized by management. We are not removing the bones, as they are already there. We are just removing the headstones and at the same time we stress we do not allow pets to be buried here.) — Richa Noriega/BM, GMA News