MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government will ask Rodriguez, Rizal (formerly Montalban) Mayor Dennis Hernandez to explain why it supposedly refused the burial of two Muslim Filipinos who died of COVID-19.
In a statement Thursday, the DILG said it will issue a show cause order against the town mayor “who allegedly refused the burial in their locality of two Muslim Filipinos who died of COVID-19.”
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The department said this is “a clear defiance of government guidelines on burial amid the public health emergency situation in the country.”
The mayor reportedly did not sign the burial permit application of those who died and the families of the deceased had to bring the bodies to Muslim cemetery in Norzagaray, Bulacan.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año pointed out that Metro Manila already has limited Muslim cemeteries.
“Let us not add to the grief of the bereaved who only wants to peacefully lay their loved ones to rest,” he said in Filipino.
Año said: “We are displeased with the disregard of the town mayor of Islamic traditions and I have already ordered our legal office to issue the show case order to the Mayor of Montalban, Rizal.”
“Imagine the inconvenience of transporting their dead all the way from Metro Mania to Rizal and passing through checkpoints only to be turned away and then travelling to Bulacan just to be able to bury their departed family member,” he added.
Guidelines
The DILG also noted that the Department of Health guidelines provide that burial of COVID-19 victims must be done within 12 hours, preferably through cremation but “to the most possible extent, be in accordance with the person’s religion or customs.”
It also pointed out that in the Islamic religion, the deceased should be buried in 24 hours.
“The Ulama Council of Zamboanga Peninsula also said that ritual bathing of the body in accordance with Muslim rites may be done if the health authorities say it is safe, otherwise a Muslim doctor may perform tayammum or dry ablution to the dead prior to the placement inside a cadaver bag,” it added.
The DILG said that first victim passed away on March 22 but was buried almost two days later, while the second died on March 30.
The DILG and the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos are conducting the investigation, as the commission received direct reports from the victims’ families. — Kristine Joy Patag