Over 1.4 million visit Manila cemeteries

MANILA, Philippines — More than 1.4 million people visited the two major cemeteries in Manila to remember their dead yesterday.

The Manila North Cemetery had recorded 1,211,200 visitors as of 5 p.m.

The Manila South Cemetery had tallied 212,639 visitors as of 4 p.m.

Families are still expected to come to the cemeteries today for All Souls’ Day.

In Parañaque, more than 200,000 visitors were recorded at the Manila Memorial Park.

In Caloocan, an estimated 74,949 people visited eight cemeteries.

Sangandaan Cemetery logged the most visitors at 19,637, followed by Tala Cemetery with 17,671 and Forest Park Memorial with 9,396.

Pasig recorded more than 23,000 visitors at five monitored cemeteries.

The local government activated its incident management team on Oct. 31, deploying nearly 800 personnel from the city hall, barangays and national government agencies to maintain safety, order and cleanliness.

The deployment was scheduled to continue until today.

In Pasay, more than 19,800 people had visited the city’s public cemetery as of 3 p.m., according to the local disaster risk reduction and management office.

Malabon registered 19,875 cemetery visitors from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, including 9,395 yesterday.

In Marikina, the Barangka Public Cemetery logged 10,362 visitors as of 2 p.m., while more than 9,000 people visited the Loyola Memorial Park.

The Manila South Cemetery in Makati received more than 8,240 visitors. Its director, Rafael Mendez, estimated that the cemetery could draw between 600,000 and one million visitors.

In Las Piñas, around 14,000 people flocked to the Golden Haven Memorial Park along C-5 Road.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) attended to 2,416 people from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1.

The PRC provided vital signs checks to 2,324 patients and assisted 86 others with minor complaints.

Four patients required major medical attention for chest pain, dizziness, swelling on the left cheek and lower back pain. The agency set up 90 welfare assistance services.

The PRC deployed 1,749 personnel, 62 ambulances, 286 first aid stations, 101 welfare desks, 21 foot patrol teams and 22 mobile units in different cemeterites. — Mark Ernest Villeza