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MANILA: Families of coronavirus victims in the Philippines are denied traditional death rites in favor of hasty and impersonal cremations, with virus restrictions that often mean they are prohibited from taking one last look at loved ones.
It is a painful and disorienting process for both families and cremation workers that has altered the Philippines’ intimate rituals of putting the dead to rest.
Burial is the norm in the Catholic-majority nation, and generally follows a one-day display of the embalmed body at home or in a chapel.
But due to the pandemic, authorities are encouraging rapid cremations, although rapid burials, of suspected or confirmed Covid-19 deaths, are still allowed.
Beams are prohibited in these cases and hospitals must seal the remains in plastic and send them directly to crematoriums or funeral homes.
Before the virus attacked, families who opted for cremation were able to last see their loved one before the body was sent to the flames.
Now workers have to gently explain regulations that deny even that to distressed family members.
“We tell them we can’t do it because it’s dangerous. We could all get infected,” Romeo Uson, a 54-year-old worker, drenched in sweat in a protective suit at a crematorium in Manila, told AFP.
“It is also painful for us,” he added. “We cannot let families mourn the dead as before.”
His facility has been performing six to seven cremations a day, double the usual number, since the spread of the virus began taking off in March.
The Philippines detected nearly 9,000 infections and officially recorded 603 deaths, although due to limited testing capacity, the numbers are believed to be higher.
Second tragedy
Leandro Resurrección IV, 26, was not allowed to visit his father when he was dying of the virus in the hospital, and never saw his body, only the plastic in which it was wrapped.
“I think the fact that … my family couldn’t say goodbye could probably be the second most tragic thing that happened after my father’s death,” he said.
“It makes the pain slower,” he added.
The anonymous process, all the body bags look alike, it has even raised doubts that the urn at home contains his father’s ashes.
To his knowledge, the Resurrection family had always buried their dead, and his father’s cremation sparked disagreement among family members over whether the urn should be kept home or buried.
The distant and impersonal process means crematorium workers must help comfort family members who would normally have grief rituals such as wakes and family reunions to receive support.
“I tell you to pray. You should pray because those are the “vitamins” of the dead, “said worker Romeo Elevaso.
Her colleague Uson said they apologize to the families for the restrictions and try to lighten the atmosphere with stories and smiles.
Family members understand the extraordinary nature of the pandemic and accept that they will never see the faces of their loved ones again, he said.
In addition to the hard work of comforting family members, cremation workers also live in fear of getting sick.
Local authorities have urged them to take the hottest baths they can handle after work and to take vitamins and ginseng, which they say can boost their immune systems.
Elevaso follows that advice and also rubs his body with alcohol before returning to his family after each shift.
“For us, taking vitamins and saying prayers is important,” he said.
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