ILOILO: A columbarium is being eyed inside the Balantang Memorial Cemetery National Shrine (BMCNS) in Jaro District in this city.
The cemetery’s 150-physical crate capacity is already full.
‘One of the solutions that we see is to build a columbarium to accommodate requests in the future for the deceased members of the 6th Military District to be buried in the national shrine. It’s the only military cemetery established outside of Metro Manila and somehow similar to the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Manila,’ Glen Castañares, designated head of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) Iloilo field service extension office, said during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum on Tuesday.
He said the plan is to have 150 vaults for the columbarium, which is targeted for completion by 2025 or 2026.
Castañares said that only members of the 6th Military District that fought against the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II (WWII) are allowed to be interred in the national shrine.
The 6th Military District had
around 20,000 forces and was led by Gen. Macario Peralta.
‘Not all were identified. We have a tomb for unknown soldiers inside the BMCNS, serving as their mass graves, and their names are also inscribed in the Wall of Memories,’ he said.
To date, Castañares said Panay and Guimaras have 13 living WWII or senior veterans, and four in Negros Occidental, with ages ranging from 99 to 105 years old.
In addition to establishing a columbarium, there is also a plan to open the shrine to post-war veterans, he said.
Post-war veterans include retirees from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and members of the Philippine Constabulary before it was dissolved and absorbed by the Philippine National Police.
PVAO records show there are 8,900 active pensioners, both senior and post-war veterans, in the region as of June.
Source: Philippines News agency