Cebu City also holds back on ‘Undas’

CEBU CITY — The city government here will close all its 23 cemeteries from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as the traditional observance of All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1, locally known as “Undas,” approaches.

Mayor Edgardo Labella said the public might visit the graves of their deceased relatives before or after these dates.

The city government is the first local government unit outside Luzon to follow the measure laid out by Manila Mayor Isko “Francisco Domagoso” Moreno who, on Sept. 8, announced the closure of cemeteries and columbaria in the city of Manila from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3.

The next day, the municipality of Pateros and other cities in Metro Manila also announced they were closing their cemeteries.

Avoid mass gatherings

Labella said there was a need to avoid mass gatherings on All Saints’ Day. The city and the entire province of Cebu, among the provinces hit hard by the pandemic, are under modified general community quarantine.

The mayor said only immediate relatives of a recently deceased person may gather for a wake.

A 60-year-old man in Cogon Pardo village who died on Aug. 29 was found positive for COVID-19 after his family and neighbors held a wake.

City Councilor Joel Garganera said more than 50 people who attended the wake were already tested, with their results pending.

Garganera, the deputy chief of Cebu City Emergency Operations Center, said his office will formulate guidelines on the conduct of wakes.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is considering “alternatives” for the observance of All Saints’ Day amid the pandemic.

“We will see if there are alternatives. I believe that Undas is important to Filipinos. We are the only ones with this culture around the world, and it is the dedicated day for us to remember our loved ones,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.

He added: “My recommendation is not just to make it a single day, but maybe allot four to five days. It will depend on the family name of the deceased as to who will be allowed to visit the cemetery. This is so that there won’t be an influx on a single day.”

Roque said he would suggest a “color-coded scheme” to control families visiting cemeteries and ensure that physical distancing is still observed.

“It is important for me to visit my departed ones. Although I go to the cemetery even if it’s not Undas,” he said.