Manila opens first cemetery and cultural hall for Muslim residents

Manolo B. Jara, Correspondent

Manila on Monday inaugurated its first ever Islamic cemetery and cultural hall, costing close to $1 million and which, Mayor Isko Moreno said, aims to help mainly Muslim residents in burying their dead.

Moreno led City Hall officials in inaugurating the cemetery and cultural centre located on a 2,400 square metre lot at the Manila South Cemetery in Pandacan district in Manila whose construction started last year.

Earlier, Shey Sakaluran Mohammad, the chief of Manila City Hall's Muslim Affairs Office, said the cemetery was designed with a mosque, which will also serve as a centre to showcase Muslim culture.

Mohammad added the cemetery will serve as an exclusive ground for the interment and transfer for deceased Muslim residents in Manila.

In his speech, meanwhile, Moreno acknowledged that the lack of sufficient space has long been a major problem for Muslim residents in Manila in burying their dead. Such concern, the mayor said, was coupled with the Islamic belief that the body of the deceased should be buried 24 hours after the death.

"Our Muslim residents are always in a quandary as to where they will bury the remains of their loves ones," he said in a mix of Filipino and English. "Sometimes, they need to bring the body to Mindanao."

"What if they are poor?" he asked. "What if they are from the slums? They have no money but they have to do it."

Moreno also apologised to the Muslim settlers for what he admitted as an oversight on the part of City Hall, as he pointed out: "This is yours. This is our offering and acceptance of our shortcomings as a city government."

He did not elaborate but he was apparently referring to the history of Manila which was ruled by Muslim princes long before the arrival in 1521 of the Spanish "conquistadores" who colonised the country more than 400 years ago.