Rain fails to stop beeline to cemeteries

Those who braved the rain to pay respects to their dead loved ones hold out in tents at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. DZIQ PHOTO

Heavy rain and inclement weather brought by tropical depression “Ramil” did not stop thousands Filipinos from paying respects to their departed in different cemeteries in Metro Manila Wednesday morning.

More than 50,000 braved the rain in Manila North Cemetery to visit their dead on All Saints’ Day, according to the Manila Police District’s crowd estimate as of 8 a.m.

Some even offered rice porridge to visitors of the densest cemetery in Metro Manila to warm their appetite in the cold and rainy morning, as shown in the video of dzIQ Radyo Inquirer 990.

At the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina, those who visited their departed sought shelter in tents that they set up, as shown in the video of DZIQ Radyo Inquirer 990.


Prepped in raincoats and carrying umbrellas, visitors continuously arrived at the private cemetery—known for the final resting place of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and actress Nida Blanca—carrying baskets of food, flowers, and candles to remember their departed loved ones.


About 3,500 people had also trooped to the Manila South Cemetery in Makati as of 7 a.m., according to a report by dzIQ Radyo Inquirer. Authorities expect 200,000 people to go the cemetery by the end of the day.


Authorities saw a significantly lower turnout of visitors at the cemeteries this year as the All Saints’ Day holiday fell on a weekday and the inclement weather prompted many families to remember their dead at their homes instead. /cbb

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