Woman in burial ‘wanted’ mourners to walk

IT was reportedly the wish of a dying 69-year-old Tranquilina Jagbil that her family and other mourners walk on foot for her funeral, the traditional way.

That request was the talk of residents in barangay Cangdampas a day after Thursday’s road accident where the dump truck carrying the woman’s coffin and almost 70 villlagers crashed, killing 10 on board.

Regret and, for some, superstitious fear about the tragedy was expressed by one woman in her 40s residing in Cangdampas.

“Mao raman to gihangyo sa tiguwang kay nag daut naman to siya (That was the only request of the old woman since she was already sickly),” said the resident.

Some families still did it the old-fashioned way for loved ones who died, she explained.

“Dependi ra man na sa tagtungod kung unsa ilang gusto (It all depends on what the relatives choose).”

But the mountain barangay is over 12 kilometers from the Poblacion, and riding government dump trucks is a common practice in remote rural areas.

Jagbil had wanted the traditional route, a funeral procession on foot from the vigil in her house to the church for requiem Mass and a burial in the cemetery in the town proper.

Her family and relatives chose the practical route and used the six-wheeler garbage truck owned by the munipality of Barili.

A relative of Tranquilina, Cristine Juanillo, 22, told CDN she didn’t believe it was true the request for a foot procession was actually made.

She said the youngest of the five siblings, Timotea, 38, didn’t leave their mother’s side when she fell ill.

Timotea is recupating from a broken right shoulder in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VMMC). She was riding with two other relatives in the front seat of the dump truck.

Dionesia Escarpi, who lost a son, Cerillo Escarpi, and three relatives in the crash, said she saw bad omens in the morning of Thursday but ignored them at the time.

She said she saw a large pot of rice accidentally fall from the table, scattering the grains on the ground. And then the burial alms or “limos” was transferred from one container to the other.

“Basta inana nga mga panghitabo kay maglut-od ang patay,” Dionesia said.

Dionesia didn’t ride on the dumptruck since her son, unfortunately, was already there. Reporter Jucell Marie P. Cuyos