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The Fate of Tuguegarao's Spanish-era Camposantos...
For us Filipinos, days before November 1 and November 2 we would troop to the camposanto and clean the graves of their loved ones. It is very important to clean our camposantos because this is the final resting place of our beloved dead; a hallowed ground of our mortality. Second, all of us are going to have a slot in the camposanto, since all humans are prone to death.
The word "Camposanto" is a Spanish equivalent to the English "Cemetery". In the Northern Luzon, the Ilocanos adopted from the Spanish the word "Camposanto" and it is still used by elders to denote the final resting place of the dead. Personally, I prefer "Camposanto" than "Cemetery" because it sounds holy and the dead are treated with veneration like the saints, unlike the latter which sounds like a sanitary landfill. For us Filipinos, the dead are to be given utmost respect for they once lived with us. Thus, our camposantos are to be treated as sacred grounds like the churches and chapels; not as dumping sites for our rubbish. As we hold parties and prayers in our respective camposantos, we should clean-up our mess to maintain the place's sanctity.
In the 20th and 21st Centuries, modern memorial parks came into existence and people bury their dead here because of its beauty and serenity. If these are seen as exclusive subdivisions, the old camposanto has transformed into a shanty (barung-barong); a far-cry from their once glorious splendor. During the Spanish period, camposantos in towns were well-maintained and its fences were made either of brick or stone.
In the early years of Spanish occupation, most burials were held at the church compound. One classic example is the original camposanto of Tuguegarao which was once located at the right side of the Saint Peter's Cathedral. Now occupied by the tennis court and the Lobato multipurpose building, this camposanto was even older than the Cathedral and the Ermita de San Jacinto. When the Cathedral was constructed from 1761 to 1766, a fence and gate of brick was built at the perimeter of the camposanto by Fr. Antonio Lobato de Santo Tomas, OP. In 1794, Fr. Lobato was buried here together with Fr. Juan Leyva, OP (The second parish priest of Iguig known for his miraculous cures who died earlier in the 17th Century and he was the first person to be buried in Tuguegarao's original camposanto). It was still used even until the early 20th Century, during the cholera ourbreak in Tuguegarao in the 1920s. Eventually, it was abandoned after the Second World War.
In the 18th Century to the early 20th Century, plagues like cholera and smallpox took the lives of many people in the Philippines. Vaccines were not yet available throughout the archipelago, except in Manila where smallpox vaccines were introduced by Balmis. For sanitary purposes, cemeteries were built separate from the church. In 1894, Fr. Bonifacio Corujedo, OP, the last Dominican parish priest of Tuguegarao, established a camposanto distant from the Cathedral and this is today's "Old Tuguegarao Cemetery". It had a fence and gate (all made of brick) and columbaries. Notable persons like Fr. Julian Malumbres, OP, Governors Honorio Lasam and Rodolfo Aguinaldo,Claude Andrews and some diocesan priests of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao are interred here. It was also the final resting place of some of the victims of the cholera outbreak that hit Tuguegarao in the 1920s. Noticeable here are the presence of graves of children buried in the early 20th Century. It is important to note that in the late 19th until the early 20th Centuries, higher mortality rates were very common, especially among children. These were caused by the outbreak of cholera and tubercolosis which affected Tuguegarao in the 1920s. Today, these disorders could now be cured by vaccines and various medications.
As to their fate, the camposanto located at the Cathedral is now gone. Traces of the fence, gate and brick burial grounds are still found at the site. Even the graves of Fr. Lobato and Fr Leyva could not be located. As to the "Old Tuguegarao Cemetery", many of the old tombstones are covered with foliage, dilapidated and unvisited. Many lapidas, especially those from the early 20th century, have gone missing because of thieves. Those tombs affected are that of Fr. Malumbres and my paternal great great-grandparents. The brick fence is covered with foliage and some of the bricks are demolished and vandalized. The gate is full of vandals and the marker of the camposanto found at the top is now gone. Lastly, the surroundings could be described as mini dumpsites because of scattered used coffins, plastic wrappers and weeds. Indeed, there is no centralized system of disposal of such wastes in this cemetery.
These Spanish-era camposantos of Tuguegarao are heritage places; our inheritance from our Spanish masters and ancestors. Some of the people who were interred here are important personages in the history of Cagayan. During their lifetime, they have contributed much for the progress of the Cagayanos and now they are dead, look what we have done to their mortal monuments? We have made them into dumpsites; the immortal monuments of our human indifference towards heritage and cultural preservation. Thus, transforming our camposantos into mere cemeteries.
Necessary action should be done in preserving and cleaning our camposantos in Tuguegarao and the rest of the towns of Cagayan. This responsibility should not be ordained solely to our authorities. The Archdiocese of Tuguegarao should implement strict rules in maintaining the sacrality of our camposantos without affecting important pieces of heritage found in it (e.g. Spanish- era brick fences and gates and the graves and lapidas from the 19th to 20th Centuries). Just like our churches, the camposanto also mirrors both the spirituality and the history of the community. It reflects on how we value respect to our beloved dead, our community and our bodies. A clean and well-preserved camposanto reflects an authentic reverence to our beloved dead, while a dirty camposanto represents the continuing rise in our attitude of indifference and worse, hatred.
Photos: The present Condition of Tuguegarao's Spanish-era Camposantos. The first photo is what remains of the Camposanto of Tuguegarao located beside the Cathedral. The last two photos are those of the "Old Tuguegarao Cemetery": (a) The brick gate and (b) The tomb of Fr. Julian Malumbres, OP.
