Philippines - Manila North Cemetery
Add to Cart DownloadFuneral at the babygrave section. Manila North Cemetery. „600 PHP for the 3 years contract“, announces 37-years-old Jerwin Carreon to the mother who is handing him her stillbirth in a cardboard box. „Zasho“ and his 4 gravediggers colleagues are taking care of “section 196” – the cemetery’s part where roughly 3000 babies (and a couple of dogs) are buried. Once the contract is about to end, the families are required to renew it by paying an extension fee in person to the caretakers on November 1, All Saint’s Day – the holy day when Filipino families return to worship the deceased. “If they don’t pay, the mortal remains will be exhumed to make room for newcomers. Sadly, many can’t afford the further payment”, divulges Zasho, whose family had to move to North Cemetery when they surrendered their property due to a fire in 1995. The majority of the cemetery residents earn some income as caretakers, keeping the tombs tidy for their owners and protecting the graves from thieves which are after the burial gifts. But only a few are getting paid a pittance, a fact that doesn’t bother the settlers much, as they are given permission to stay in return. Right next to the mourners, across the pathway where Hobito sells ice cream out of his handcart, a birthday party has just started out. Margerie Antonio turns 24 today, and in order to celebrate this event in the typical Filipino way, her close friends and family have installed a karaoke machine in the center of several tombs. Margerie has spent all her birthdays in the cemetery, which is unmistakably a challenging place to call home - yet she doesn’t mind: „that’s how it is, we are poor but happy“.
- Filename
- Manila_North_Cemetery-255.jpg
- Copyright
- Claudio Sieber
- Image Size
- 6016x4016 / 21.5MB
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- Philippines - Manila North Cemetery
