Couple file complaint for missing tomb, remains of relatives in Bacolod cemetery

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BACOLOD CITY—A couple filed a complaint at the police station after they could not find the remains of their loved ones buried at the public cemetery here including the entire tomb that used to stand there.

Rodel Libosada and his wife, and Ginalin, of Barangay 35 said they went to the five-story tomb of at about 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 1 to visit their departed relatives.

However, upon arriving at the cemetery, they were surprised when the entire tomb was gone and the skeletons missing. They also noticed that the concrete fence of a nearby mausoleum had extended to the area where their tomb used to stand, they added.

The couple said the tomb used to house the remains of their relatives Adela, Rolando, Rodito, Rolito and Cristeta all surnamed Libosada, and Moreto, Ramon and Poka Fernandez.

In their complaint, they said they were told by their caretaker Ricardo Repogio that Winston Mullner contractor of the Bacolod Public Cemetery, constructed the mausoleum without his knowledge.

The family went to the police station and sought assistance of the police to find the bones of their loved ones.

General Services Office head Jerome Solinap said his office also received several complaints from the Libosada family that a new structure was constructed in the place where the grave of their departed family members once stood.

Solinap said he was recommending the demolition of the mausoleum and for the tomb of the departed members of the Libosada family to be restored.

“Nobody has been authorized to demolish the tomb of the Libosada family without an exhumation permit from the Bacolod City Health Office and upon the request of the family concerned,” he said.

“There is a corresponding crime for those who destroy a graveyard without authority,” he added.

Solinap said he will issue Repogio a memorandum asking him to explain the incident after an investigation has been conducted.

He would also submit a recommendation to the mayor to assign additional personnel to the cemetery and to prevent anyone from building illegal structures within its compound.

Repogio said he didn’t notice that the tomb was gone since he had a lot of work in the wake of the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day celebration.

He said he only knew about it when the Libosada family complained that  Mullner, a job order employee of the city, constructed a mausoleum  that encroached the spot where the tomb of the Libosada family was once located.

Repogio added Mullner, who was supposed to be assigned at the Libertad Market, didn’t coordinate with him. /jpv