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A
Post-All Saints’ Day Photo Essay
This
two-part photo essay deals with the issues of inequality and poverty. The first part shows how inequality persists even after
death. The second part shows how poverty pushes people to be “creative” and
live on the dead.
TEXT
AND PHOTOS BY ROWENA CARRANZA
Bulatlat.com
Part
I: Unequal, Dead or Alive
Death
is the great equalizer. Or so they say.
In the Philippines, not even death could make the rich and the poor
equal. The following pictures show the stark realities of death – and,
therefore, of life – for the poor.
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MILLIONAIRES’ ROW. Nope, these are not houses for the living but for the
dead. They are called mausoleums, which are found at the Loyola Memorial
Park, an exclusive memorial park in Parañaque City. 
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 ONLY
FOR THE RICH. The price of the memorial lot alone occupied by a mausoleum
ranges from P1.5 million to P2 million. The structure on the other hand
costs another P1 million bucks.
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 REST
FOR THE WEARY RICH. Some of these are equipped with bathrooms and
air-conditioned rooms where the grieving rich can rest.
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 STATUS
SYMBOL. Family mausoleum: symbol of wealth and power – and tax-free at
that.
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“MODEST.”
In the more modest part of the Loyola memorial park are spaces for the
upper middle class.
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FORGETTING
LIFE. The pleasant atmosphere makes one forget the harshness of living and
is conducive to family picnics |
At
the other end:
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 COPYCAT.
Imitating the memorial park-look, this
portion of the North Cemetery in Laloma, Quezon
City is patterned after the American-inspired burial park.
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UNFIT
FOR THE DEAD. Unlike the  posh memorial parks which are strictly guarded,
the public cemeteries are prone to vandalism and robbery. |
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 MISSING.
This group came all the way from San Jose del Monte, Bulacan (an hour away
from Manila) only to spend three hours looking for the tomb of their loved
one.
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 CONGESTED
CEMETERY. Unlike in the spacious Loyola, the graves at Laloma are barely a
foot apart
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VERTICAL
GRAVES? There are no acacia trees to shield this woman from the hot sun,
only her deformed umbrella, as she offers her prayer for her child, buried
in the apartment-type graves, children’s section of the North Cemetery.
According to government officials, for lack of space soon there would be
vertical graves to accommodate the dead’s increasing need.
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 NO
MATTER WHAT. Prayers are followed by lunch, no matter how unappetizing the
environment is.
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Part
II: Living on the Dead
Bulatlat.com
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