Mandaue council oks 'six-feet-under' law

Cadavers should be buried at least six feet underground, in conformity with the Public Health Law, so stated the resolution the Mandaue City council had approved recently.

The resolution, authored by councilor Dionisio Ceniza, was meant to protect the public from health risks in the wake of reports that cadavers, buried only two feet underground, have been dug up and eaten by marauding dogs.

"The cadaver shall be buried six feet below the ground to avoid odor to nearby residents," Ceniza's resolution reads.

The resolution also requested Mayor Thadeo Ouano to direct city health officer Oscar Quirante to inspect the burial site of cadavers.

Ceniza meanwhile proposed an ordinance establishing and creating the city's Free-Bone Chamber Space Program to provide a relatively decent place for keeping the bones of dead and indigent city residents.

The proposed ordinance, already approved on first reading last Tuesday and referred later to the City Legal Office, defined an indigent beneficiary as someone whose income is below the poverty line for Region VII as determined by the National Economic Development Authority.

The measure further stipulated that the program could be availed of upon the approval of the city mayor, upon recommendation from the barangay captain and the chairperson of the committee on social services of the City Council.

Ceniza added that the city-owned cemetery is already so congested making it difficult to find a place to bury the dead that is very poor and could not have a place at the Catholic Cemetery. - Mitchelle P. Calipayan