City seeks additional burial sites for COVID mortalities

Iloilo City is currently looking for additional burial sites for COVID-19 mortalities amid the lack of sufficient crematory facilities in the region.

Mayor Jerry Treñas together with the City Health Office (CHO), Philippine National Police (PNP) and other offices of the city government on Thursday met with representatives of four private memorial parks in the metro to ask help for the burial of COVID-19 fatalities.

“We met with four private memorial parks to assist us on the burial of the cadavers through the provision of gravesites. The Iloilo City Government is extending all our efforts to create a decent grave for our deceased brothers and sisters,” Treñas said in a statement on Thursday.

Recently, the mayor announced that the city will find a 40-footer, –20 degrees freezer van in which to store cadavers while waiting for cremation. But he called off the plan as the city will look for additional gravesites.

Treñas has expressed concern over the limited capacity of the crematorium in Panay Island.

According to the mayor, the one accredited crematorium on the island cannot accommodate COVID-19 positive cadavers for two weeks.

“The protocol set by the national Inter-Agency Task Force Against Covid-19 (IATF) mandates the disposal of the cadaver for not further than 12 hours,” he added.

The provinces of Aklan and Iloilo have already instructed their respective local governments to prepare burial sites for COVID-19 fatalities.

The Department of Health Western Visayas Center (DOH-6) also made the same call to local government units (LGUs) amid the limited crematorium facilities in the region.

Recently, the Gegato-Abecia Funeral Parlor and Crematorium facility announced that it will temporarily stop accepting cadavers for two weeks due to the high volume of bodies it has been receiving.

The crematorium has been receiving cadavers not only from Iloilo City but Iloilo province and other neighboring provinces as well.

As of August 5, 2021, DOH-6 reported 19 additional COVID-19 deaths in the region, bringing the total fatalities to 2,027. (ERS)