For these evacuees in Ecija, cemetery is safer

CABANATUAN CITY—A place for the dead is more attractive for some 50 families who fled their homes in Barangay San Juan Accfa here at the height of Typhoon “Pedring” on Tuesday.

Baby Tiquia, a mother of seven, said government representatives had asked them to stay in an evacuation center along with other villagers when floodwater started to rise on Tuesday. But she told them that her family felt more comfortable at the public cemetery.

“They seemed to be crowded at the evacuation center,” Tiquia said in Filipino.

A few tombs away is the family of Lanie Nicolas, 46, also of Barangay San Juan Accfa. She and her family fled the floods and are now appealing for food and medicines.

Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara said City Hall officials distributed relief packs to the evacuees. “They preferred to stay there (cemetery) but we still have to look and care for them,” he said.

Vergara said the city government had prepared evacuation centers for flood victims.

But Dr. Gilbert Embuscado, city health officer, said staying at the cemetery could be risky and dangerous. “A leak from a new tomb could be dangerous to their health,” he said.

He said both parents and their children should not expose themselves to rain.

“We are giving them emergency medicines and our office is open if they need more attention,” he said.

Tiquia and Nicolas said they always seek refuge at the public cemetery when they have to flee their homes because of the floods.

Their houses are situated along the Sapang Buhay Creek near the cemetery.