Dateline
Living with the Dead
REPORTER: Joel Tozer
At
first glance, this place looks like a normal community. Shops are opening up
for the day, people are getting ready for work and kids are walking to school.
TITA VILLAROSA, RESIDENT MANILA NORTH
CEMETERY: We start our school at 8:30 in
the morning, they are just 2 years old to 4 years old.
It
is a journey these siblings make two days a week with their grandma. But
nothing is normal about where they live or where they are going. These kids
attend school in the neighbour tomb.
TITA VILLAROSA: We were able to borrow this place… a
mausoleum with the
dead. In school we teach them how to read, how to write.
REPORTER: They are learning next to a tomb?
TITA VILLAROSA: Yes, they don’t mind that…the tombs, they were born here
inside the cemetery. They are raised here, this school is exclusively for
them and so that’s after a year, when they are allowed to go to school, they
are ready.
This
sprawling cemetery is the final resting place of Filipino presidents and
celebrities. In its endless rows of tombs are the bodies of more than a million
of Manila's dead, but thousands of its living choose to live here as well.
There are communities, just like this one, all across the Philippines.
The
first thing you notice at Pasay City cemetery is the kids.
BOY (Translation): Put one here, here. It’s on the
other side. Not that side, turn it over. I will fly it. Put this on first. No
insert this first – like this.
It
is a playground, a workplace and around 300 families happily call this cemetery
home. Residents carry out their daily chores, while streams of grieving
families pass by to bury their loved ones. Celia Garcia has called a tomb home
for the past 10 years.
REPORTER: Joel. Thanks for having me. This
is your home?
CELIA GARCIA, RESIDENT PASAY CITY CEMETERY: Yes.
Seeing
Celia's home is a surprise. Celia's house is spread across three different
grave sites, which is bigger than most others around here.
CELIA GARCIA:
This is my kitchen…
REPORTER: This is
where you make your food?
CELIA GARCIA:
And this is my table and this is my house, where to sleep.
REPORTER: This is where you sleep with your
grandson, on top of the tomb?
CELIA GARCIA: Yes, yes.
REPORTER: Is there a mattress on top of the
tomb?
CELIA GARCIA: I have my foam.
REPORTER: You have like a foam you put on
top?
CELIA GARCIA: Yes.
REPORTER: Do you ever get worried about
sleeping on top of the tomb?
CELIA GARCIA:
No.
It
was love that brought Celia to the cemetery, her husband to be already lived
and worked here so she moved in.
CELIA GARCIA: When I met him, I was working there outside of the cemetery,
as a server in a food stall or rather a restaurant, there I met him there. My
husband was a caretaker of the office, that's why I'm here living, he brought
me. At first I was afraid, but as time
went by I got used to it.
Living
here isn't allowed, but the authorities turn a blind eye to the residents.
REPORTER: And you have got a TV and how do you
get electricity in here?
CELIA GARCIA:
It’s a kind of “jumper”.
Celia
steals power, but it is the only way to get electricity. It is not uncommon for
the residents to tap into the cemetery's wires to supply power to their homes.
Celia buried her husband more than two decades ago at a nearby cemetery. Now,
she helps care for her family by earning a small wage cleaning the graves she
lives o, a common job for a lot of people who live here. But for her and many
others in Pasay cemetery the future is always uncertain.
CELIA GARCIA (Translation): We
were told that we will be evicted, that there will be a relocation but we don't
know where it will be or when we are going to be evicted because this is a
place for the living but for the dead.
But,
for now, daily life and death continues hand in hand. A short distance from
Celia's home, two residents have just started work for the day.
REY, GRAVEDIGGER (Translation): Two heads… on the other side - look at
it. I buried this here.
Rey
and Ralph have been working on this site in the mud for two days. This is not
just a grave being dug. It is an eviction of a young girl. Not only can the
living be thrown out, so can the dead.
RALPH, GRAVEDIGGER (Translation): We are digging so we can collect the bones so we can show
them to the family.
Graves
at this cemetery have a 5-year lease. Many families cannot afford to pay beyond
that, so the bones are removed, making way for a new body. Filipinos favour
burial over cremation. Some locals tell me they believe it is like a second
death.
REY (Translation): They were even poorer than us.
Pasay
is at capacity for burials, so here they recycle the graves.
REY (Translation): There’s the brain.
RALPH (Translation):
That’s too heavy.
The
bones will be placed in a bag ready for the family to collect.
REY (Translation): Don’t touch this area.
RALPH (Translation):
Why?
Shifting
through the mud with their bare hands, an important part of their job is to
make sure to leave nothing behind.
REY (Translation): Who is this?
RALPH (Translation):
She’s a girl. Put it in the sack.
This
hard work earns Rey and Ralph around 500 pesos per grave, that is around $12
Australian.
REPORTER: How do you
feel when you see the bones?
RALPH (Translation):
Nothing. I don't feel
anything. You should be afraid of the living, not the dead. The only
difficult thing is when you are cursed by the spirits. Sometimes, you are just
walking, you can just feel the presence and you feel coldness around you.
Even if it is hot you feel some coldness.
REPORTER: If that
happens, what do you do?
RALPH (Translation): Just say a short
prayer, so you can pass by.
As
they dig the grave, the cemetery children aren't distracted from their game.
They show a surprising maturity about death.
REPORTER: Do get scared watching things like
that?
BOY (Translation):
No, I’m not afraid.
REPORTER: Why not?
BOY (Translation):
Because they are people too.
Just
30 minutes after the girl's bones are removed, the same grave is ready for
someone else. So why do people choose to live in cemeteries? For many families,
it is a choice between life in the slums or life in the cemetery.
This
slum is Tondo. It is one of the most densely populated places in the world.
This slum is one of the oldest communities in Manila. People here mostly make a
living collecting garbage. Seeing the conditions here, you can understand why
some people choose to live amongst the dead. But it is not a choice that the
local government is happy with. The majority of these cemeteries are owned by
them. I take a trip back to Pasay cemetery to ask the local authorities how
they feel about the cemetery dwellers.
REPORTER: Hi, Christina. Joel.
CHRISTINA TUASON, PASAY CITY PUBLIC CEMETERY: Hello.
REPORTER: Thanks for having us.
Christina's
office sits on top of the cemetery's crematorium. She works with a small team
who oversee more than 30,000 graves and tombs.
CHRISTINA TUASON
(Translation): We can't stop 300 families who steal electricity and water
from us. We cannot do anything about that. The truth is we don't condone them living
here. We don’t like them living here,
not because we don't like them, but because it's not fair, this is a cemetery.
Christina
can't confirm if people like Celia will be allowed to stay here, but she
believes a life outside the cemetery would be the best thing for everyone.
CHRISTINA TUASON (Translation): If
I have a choice to help them not to live here, I will do it. So they
won't live here. Because it is a real pity that there are young children
sleeping with the back touching the tomb. They are prone to sickness and germs,
they are not safe here.
Despite
the city's misgivings people have been living in graveyards for decades.
Riccardo Medina has lived here for 50 years. He shares his home with his third
wife, Resurrection. He's raised all of his children in this ramshackle house,
wedged between two apartment-style tombs.
REPORTER: And you live here with your children?
RICCARDO MEDINA, RESIDENT AND CARETAKER
(Translation): Yes, I was with them.
REPORTER: How many children?
RICCARDO MEDINA (Translation): Just a few…18!
REPORTER: 18, wow! And all 18 live here with
you?
RICCARDO MEDINA (Translation): They have their own families.
Riccardo
leads me to a grave he purchased for himself. Inside are the bones of his first
wife Yolanda, but there is someone else lying in here, someone he should never
had to bury.
REPORTER: This is your son's grave? And can
you tell me what happened to your son?
RICCARDO MEDINA (Translation): He was killed. He had a tattoo here, I saw
it on TV. There was news and when I looked at it I said, “That is my son. Yes,
it really is my son.”
Riccardo
says he doesn't know who killed his son or why. But his death bore all the
hallmarks of a vigilante killing, as part of President Duterte's war on drugs.
RICCARDO MEDINA (Translation): We saw him with the tape on his head and he was gone. There
were stab wound on his neck, not from gunshots.
REPORTER: Shot? Stabbed?
RICCARDO MEDINA
(Translation): If it is a gunshot, just one shot and you are dead. Two
stabbings, that hurts and with an ice pick, that hurts. Be that as it may, I fixed it, I gave him a
decent burial to pay our last respects. I’m
ready to go to heaven. But I wish my family hadn’t died before me.
Families
here spend birthdays and anniversaries with their dead, often staying for
hours, even days. But being rich or poor will determine where your bones are
laid to rest. In private cemeteries wealthy families also stay close to their
dead, but do it in opulent luxury and here there are no squatters. I am here to
meet a sacral architect who designs mausoleums.
MICHAEL ADRIANO, SACRAL ARCHITECT (Translation): The Filipinos usually give their respect to the dead by
offering a nice resting place. If they see their dead ones in a nice
place, it gives them the relief they need to accept what has happened.
Michael
Adriano designs mausoleums that offer not only a resting police, but often a
kitchen, toilet, bedroom and entertaining area for visiting family.
MICHAEL ADRIANO:
Here is my latest design.
REPORTER: Wow.
MICHAEL ADRIANO:
My most recent project.
REPORTER: This is what the final project
will look like?
MICHAEL ADRIANO: Yes.
REPORTER: Can we have a look inside?
MICHAEL ADRIANO: OK. Let's go.
REPORTER: Wow.
MICHAEL ADRIANO:
You can see the functioning area
of the family. There is a small kitchenet here and BBQ grill.
REPORTER: It is massive.
MICHAEL ADRIANO: Yes.
REPORTER: I think it is bigger than my home.
MICHAEL ADRIANO:
Really! Thank you.
Michael's designs show how comfortable Filipinos are
with death. In some ways, it makes sense why many aren't disturbed by the idea
of people living amongst the dead.
MICHAEL ADRIANO (Translation): Actually, all people are equal in God when we die. There is no
rich, there is no poor, whatever good deeds we do for God that is the most
important thing. But in reality your status still counts, whether
you belong to the poor, middle, or rich family.
I
expected life in a cemetery to be macabre and sad, but despite the
uncertainties here, people have made a warm, welcoming community. They make the
most of where life begins and where it ends. As night falls, I make my way to a
home famous for a Filipino pastime.
REPORTER: Hi, Daniel. Nice to meet you. Can
we have a look at your home?
DANIEL PANGILINAN, RESIDENT AND CARETAKER: Please come to my house. Come in.
REPORTER: Thank you.
Daniel
is 67 years old, another long-time resident like Riccardo. He's lived here
since he was 12.
REPORTER: This is your wife?
DANIEL PANGILINAN:
Yes, my wife.
Daniel
says that he knew the people buried in his home. He buried them himself.
DANIEL
PANGILINAN (Translation):
That one, "Nena" she was
really the one who told me, since this place is really theirs, to look after
them, She would tell me "Daniel, whatever happens, do not abandon my
place". “You will guard this.”
He
is keeping the promise to guard their graves in his own special way. Just like
many others who live here, Daniel tells me he will one day be buried in this
cemetery. He likes to think that his spirit will keep his family here company.
DANIEL PANGILINAN: Thank you. Thank you very much.
reporter
joel
tozer
story
producer
ana
maria quinn
camera
benjamin
emery
fixer
jinky
jorgio
story
editor
simon
phegan
translations
ronald
manila
31st
October 2017