(#3) Cabatuan Graves Encounter

By Cento Ron


Is there any better way to be confronted with your mortality than being where the once or, otherwise, forever brave mortals lay?

One idle afternoon, these Restless Soles, together with friends from way, way back, were dragged to one of the structurally grandest cemeteries we’ve visited in Iloilo -- the Cabatuan Catholic Cemetery.

As we alighted from our borrowed car, silence greeted us save for some uneven rhythm orchestrated from a distance by two grave diggers with a pair of shovels hitting pebbles, gravels and rock bottoms. The humid afternoon breeze provided little soothing comfort. The three conspicuously arched gates stole our attention leading our gaze towards the massive centerpiece, standing wide and tall over other visible structures, the cemetery chapel.

The undeniably Spanish structure accentuates Roman and Byzantine influences. The marker indicates that this was built in February 4, 1894 by Fr. Juan Porras. Order pervades the entire vicinity through a perfect square enclosed by well-crafted steel railings through solid limestone base, with the chapel as the anchor of all other structures.

Due to harsh afternoon sunlight, we borrowed shade from several mid-rise condo-type tombs while waiting for our cameras to snap what beyond our eyes can capture. We had not seen each other for more than 8 months now, and as we exchanged captured landscapes through our view finders, we also exchanged stories -- stories that date back to almost three decades ago, and counting.

While stories were shared, we waited for clouds to form at the horizon. We waited… and waited. Moments passed, but the clouds seemed to elude us. There were too few of them. After several camera clicks and stories shared, we left the place.

My thoughts wandered. I wondered what possible common story do the disparate graves, grave-owners, and grave-dwellers share?

We took shelter at the Lizares Mansion, now Angelicum School, in Tabuc Suba, Jaro, Iloilo City, which became our home for a couple of days. Although not strangers to the Mansion having been there for several occasions, we still found ourselves charmed by it. ( http://restless-soles.blogspot.com/2015/02/haunted-as-it-may-have-seemed-to-be-in.html )