WATER EVERYWHERE | More than 100 public and private cemeteries in Pampanga like this one in Minalin town are flooded on Nov. 1 following Severe Tropical Storm Paeng’s (international name: Nalgae) heavy rains, leaving many tombs unattended or abandoned or prompting people to wade in murky waters on the feast of the dead. (Photo by TONETTE T. OREJAS / Inquirer Central Luzon)
BULAKAN, Bulacan, Philippines — The floods that have lingered in at least two provinces in Luzon after Severe Tropical Storm Paeng (international name: Nalgae) left the country did not stop residents from visiting their departed loved ones during All Saints’ Day on Tuesday, even if they had to go through floodwater that inundated cemeteries.
Residents in this town, some just in slippers, waded through the maze of what once were pathways in search of the tombs of their kin with candles and flowers in hand.
About 15,000 people, or 5,000 families, in 55 villages in the towns of Bulakan, Paombong, Hagonoy, Paombong, and Calumpit, and the City of Malolos remained submerged in floodwater that rose up to 1.2 meters (4 feet) high, according to the Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO).
Ipo Dam, which has a spilling level of 101.00 meters above sea level, stopped releasing water on Sunday. As of Tuesday, its reservoir contained 101.87 meters of water.
Bustos Dam (with a 17-meter spilling level) reduced its discharge to 26 cubic meters per second on Tuesday from 236 cms on Sunday. Its reservoir retains a 17.31-meter elevation.
As of Tuesday, the level at the Angat Dam stood at 198.12 masl, which is far from its spilling elevation of 210 masl.
Strong winds and rain released by Paeng damaged 38 houses in the City of San Jose del Monte, and the towns of Pulilan, Calumpit, Paombong, and Hagonoy, the PDRRMO said.
Paeng left more than P115 million worth of damage in Bulacan, including P84 million in rice crop losses, P6.5 million in destroyed vegetables, P598,000 in lost corn crops, and more than P24 million worth of fishery losses.
In Pampanga province, more than 100 public and private cemeteries also were still flooded on Tuesday following Paeng’s heavy rains.
A fraction
The floodwater left many tombs unattended or abandoned. Some visitors were forced to wade through murky waters.
In Pampanga’s Minalin town, for instance, a cemetery was submerged under knee-deep water. In the Visayas, there were fewer people who visited the different cemeteries on Tuesday compared to the years before the pandemic struck in 2020.
Despite it being the first time that cemetery visits were allowed during All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in nearly three years, there were only about 40,000 who went to the 20 cemeteries in Cebu City, as of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, or just a little more than half of the around 70,00 who went to the city’s cemeteries in 2019.
“Many people opted to visit the cemeteries before Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 to avoid the large crowd. Perhaps, that’s the reason why not too many people visited the cemeteries in the city today,” said Police Col. Ireneo Dalogdog, director of the Cebu City Police Office.
Unlike the two previous years, visits to the cemeteries in Cebu City for this year’s celebration were no longer restricted. The wearing of face masks was also made optional and vaccination cards were no longer required to enter the cemeteries.
Mayor Michael Rama also gave the administrators or operators of cemeteries and memorial parks to decide how long they would allow visitors to stay.
Time limit
But in Tagbilaran City in Bohol province, authorities banned the overnight stay in the cemeteries on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 as part of the health and security protocols. The city government set the cemetery visiting hours from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. only from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2.
In Eastern Visayas, children below 12 years old who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 were prohibited from entering the cemeteries.
In Calbayog City, Samar province, wearing face masks was optional, but those who showed symptoms of COVID-19 were barred from visiting their loved ones in the cemeteries.
In Catbalogan City, Mayor Dexter Uy signed an executive order declaring Nov. 2 as a special local holiday to allow more persons to visit their departed loved ones in the cemeteries.