EDITORIAL - No more dignity for the dead?

With All Souls’ Day upon us many of us troop to cemeteries to remember our time with those who have left us. However, it would seem not all of us treat the dead with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Consider these three examples; two are recent incidents and one seems to be a constant.

First is the incident in a Marikina City cemetery just a few days ago where dozens of human remains were exhumed illegally. The bones dug up were allegedly enough to fill 800 sacks, which were then left out in the open.

People visiting their dead ahead of All Souls’ Day were dismayed to find the remains of their loved ones just being treated like trash. Worse, they can’t tell one person’s bones from another’s.

An investigation into the incident is now ongoing after authorities suspected a syndicate was behind it.

Then there is that video going viral online of youths eating food offerings left behind in cemeteries. A group of youths filmed themselves going around a cemetery and taking bites or even completely consuming food offerings left on graves. With the way they acted they didn’t do it because they were hungry, they did it for kicks and had a grand time at it too.

Obviously, this video was not taken yesterday, but it still shows the attitude some of us have regarding not just the traditions and beliefs of others, but also regarding the dearly departed.

The last is how we treat the resting places of our dead. Go to any public cemetery in this city and you will find that such places are far from places that offer dignity to the dead. They have become overcrowded mazes where tombs are built one upon the other, if not completely covered up to allow the construction of structures to house even more tombs.

We hate to say it, but many of them are starting to look like squatter colonies for the dead.

Many dismiss such cases by reasoning that the dead won’t care anymore what happens to them, or what we do to their offerings. It’s also easy for people to disrespect the dead; they can’t complain or file charges.

But it is worth mentioning that showing no respect for the dead is a poor reflection of us as a society.