CEBU, Philippines - A private cemetery will be established inside the University of San Carlos Talamban Campus following the approval of the request of USC Treasurer Fr. Isagani Ehido by the City Council.
The request was earlier endorsed by the City Zoning Board through secretary Cynthia Arnoco after Barangay Talamban made a resolution to approve it. However, the City Council asked for the minutes of the hearing with USC and Barangay Talamban before they could approve it.
Immediately after the hearing, the City Council unanimously approved the request and granted USC its permit.
The cemetery will be exclusively for the members of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) working in the Visayas and Mindanao. The site of this cemetery will be far from the school premises.
Rev. Fr. Eduardo Rocha, the provincial supervisor of USC also assured that the private cemetery to be developed will not be harmful to the health of the students and the neighboring residents.
During their public hearing two residents who live near the proposed area for the cemetery did not contest the proposal.
The Talamban Campus of USC has an area of close to a hundred hectares.
USC is one of the oldest schools in the country. It was founded by Jesuits in 1595 and was turned over to the SVDs in 1935. The SVD priest-scholars in the Philippines allowed the school to branch out into different fields of interest to study such as anthropology, physics, engineering, philosophy and others.
USC, which is run by the SVD priests, has eight colleges and 27 departments. (FREEMAN)