Davao City Council approves one-time fees for Muslim cemetery grave lots in Tagakpan

The Davao City Council on Tuesday approved on third and final reading an ordinance that sets one-time fees for grave lots at the Muslim Cemetery inside Tagakpan Public Cemetery, according to Edge Davao.

The measure ends the six-year lease arrangement for these lots. Under that system, families had to keep paying renewal fees, and remains could be removed once a lease lapsed.

Small grave lots, measuring four to five feet by 2 to 2.5 feet, will cost P7,000 each, while large lots, measuring seven feet by three feet, will cost P15,000. The cemetery has 70 small lots and 264 large lots, for a total of 334 covered by the ordinance.

Families who complete the single payment will receive a contract giving them the right to use the lot for permanent burial. The ordinance scraps annual lease renewals and bars the collection of any fees tied to the removal of remains.

Exhumation, transfer or disturbance of remains is prohibited, except when required by law, ordered by a competent court or authority, or requested in writing by the family in keeping with legal and religious requirements.

Councilor Ragde Niño P. Ibuyan, who authored the measure and chairs the Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization, said it is meant to give Muslim residents a burial facility that respects their faith and practices. The city's 2017 Revenue Code places public cemetery grave lots under six-year leases, an arrangement at odds with Islamic rules that call for permanent burial and forbid disturbing remains.

The ordinance was drafted after consultations with Muslim leaders and groups, including the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos 11, the Davao City Muslim Affairs Office, the Madrasah Comprehensive Development and Promotion Unit, and the Darul Ifta Wadda'wah Association Region 11, Inc. Ibuyan said participants backed the one-time payment scheme.

Ibuyan added that the city spent P7.33 million to develop the cemetery, including a prayer building, pathways and an entrance gate. The fees are intended to help recover that investment and fund operations and maintenance.