Manila South Cemetery

The Manila South Cemetery is a cemetery in Metro Manila. It is an exclave of San Andres, Manila surrounded by land under the jurisdiction of the city of Makati.^[1]

Manila South Cemetery
Main entrance to the Manila South Cemetery
Details
Established	1925
Location	Manila, Metro Manila
Country	Philippines
Coordinates	14°33′56″N 121°1′9″E
Type	Public
Owned by	Manila City Government
Size	25 hectares (62 acres)
No. of graves	750,000+
Website	manila.gov.ph/south-cemetery/

History

Bird's eye view of the cemetery

The land which the cemetery occupies was previously part of the Hacienda San Pedro de Macati which was owned by the Zóbel de Ayala family.^[2][3] The land was then under the province of Rizal. The South Cemetery was legally acquired by Ordinance 726 and other actions taken by the Jacobo Zobel et al. vs. City of Manila (1925).^[4] The cemetery, occupying an area of 25 hectares (62 acres),^[1] has a maximum capacity of 371,490 graves. As of June 30, 2007, 266,170 burials were made in the cemetery. There were an estimated 753,186 burials as of July 2018.^[5]

On All Saints' Day 2015, a record 32,000 people visited the cemetery.^[1]

The Manila City Government under Mayor Isko Moreno in 2020 passed Ordinance No. 8608 allotting 2,400 square meters (26,000 sq ft) within the Manila South Cemetery for the establishment of the Manila Muslim Cemetery.^[6] The groundbreaking ceremony for the Muslim cemetery was held on July 22, 2020.^[7] The cemetery was inaugurated as the Manila Islamic Cemetery on June 7, 2021.^[8]

Notable burials

• Ramon Bagatsing (1916–2006), longest serving Mayor of Manila, survivor of the Plaza Miranda bombing
• Leon Guinto (1886–1962), Mayor of Manila during World War II, Governor of Quezon
• Elpidio Quirino (1890–1956), former president of the Philippines (reinterred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in 2016)^[9]
• Espiridiona Bonifacio (1875–1956), nationalist, revolutionary, and sister of Andrés Bonifacio
• Lucrecia Roces Kasilag (1918–2008), composer, music educator, and National Artist for Music
• Lope K. Santos (1879–1963), novelist, linguist, and grammarian of the Filipino language
• Paraluman (1923–2009), actress of the 1950s (reinterred at the St. Therese Columbary)
• Danilo Lacuna (1938–2023), former Vice Mayor of Manila and founder of Asenso Manileño

See also

• La Loma Cemetery
• Manila Chinese Cemetery
• Libingan ng mga Bayani
• Manila North Cemetery
• Scouting memorials

References

1. "In the Know: Manila South Cemetery". Philippine Daily Inquirer. November 2, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
2. Gomez, Buddy (February 10, 2016). "The man who saved Makati in 1943". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
3. Tan, Miguel; Mora, MG (November 1, 2013). "Cemetery trivia: How well do you know our burial grounds?". Rappler. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
4. G.R. No. L-22201 (January 12, 1925), Jacobo Zobel, et al. vs. the City of Manila, The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation, Inc., retrieved November 30, 2011
5. "Manila South Cemetery". City of Manila. Archived from the original on July 30, 2018.
6. "Manila approves construction of Muslim cemetery". CNN Philippines. March 3, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.^{[dead link]}
7. Valenzuela, Nikka (July 22, 2020). "Manila breaks ground for first Muslim cemetery". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
8. Mendoza, John Eric (June 7, 2021). "Manila opens Islamic cemetery, cultural hall inside public cemetery". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
9. Gamil, Jaymee; Dizon, Nikko (February 28, 2016). "After 60 years, President Quirino gets burial he deserves". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 28, 2019.