Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna announced that the two city-run cemeteries are now back to their normal operations.
This, she said, means that the Manila North Cemetery (MNC) in Blumentritt and the Manila South Cemetery (MSC) in Makati City are now once again allowing cars to get inside and there are no more rigid inspections being done at the gates.
Lacuna hastily added though, that the bringing of prohibited items like guns, bladed weapons, illegal drugs and flammable materials continue to be prohibited.
It was learned that visitors continue to flock to the two said cemeteries which are operational from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to visit their departed loved ones, after over two million visitors were monitored during the past few days.
Yayay Castaneda, Director of the MNC, said that children and pets are again freely allowed to be brought into the MNC, along with food.
Citing records provided by Castaneda, the mayor said that during the ‘Undas’ period of from October 29 to November 2, 2023, the MNC, touted as the biggest cemetery in the metropolis, had over 1.5 million people visiting their departed loved ones or a total of 1,501,050.
The MSC, on the other hand, was able to record a total of 560,595 visitors for the same five-day period.
The mayor attributed the large number of visitors to the fact that the health security protocols have been relaxed.
Lacuna thanked all those who helped maintain peace and orderliness in the said cemeteries, particularly the cemetery staff and the Manila Police District which deployed hundreds of uniformed policemen in the said two areas before and during the observance of All Saints; Day and All Souls’ Day.
