(The entrance of the Victorias Catholic Cemetery)
In Chapter 27 of The History of Victorias, I was able to trace the journey of Don Gonzalo Ditching and his family from Fujian in China to Binondo (read blog here), although another chapter is planned to narrate the Ditching clan's journey from Binondo in Manila to Molo in Iloilo in the late 1890s, and finally to the growing town of Victorias in the northern part of the Negros Island in the Philippines in the early 1900s.
But since it's All Souls' Day and our Filipino tradition reminds us to visit our departed buried in the cemeteries, we must remember the benevolent donors of the land where the Victorias Catholic Cemetery stands today.
Of all hacienderos in Victorias in the 1900s, Don Gonzalo Ditching was the largest land owner with 500 to 700 hectares to his name, and according to his descendants, their great grandfather wanted to share his land with the people of Victorias, and one of these donations is now the Victorias Catholic Cemetery.
Before the creation of the Victorias Catholic Cemetery in the 1960s, the old cemetery was in the Malinong area in Barangay 7. Way back in 1934, a cemetery in the Malinong area was where all our departed in Victorias were buried. This must have been the origin of the name 'malinong', a Hiligaynon word that means serene or peaceful. During those years, after the requiem mass was said for the dead at the old Our Lady of Victory Parish church, the funeral procession would pass through the road (now known as Magsaysay Street) up to Malinong.
That time, Magsaysay Street used to be full of trees that were later cleared to create a dirt road that would serve as a path for a funeral procession from the church to Malinong. Yes, that was the original purpose of Magsaysay Street. This path was later named Magsaysay Street after President Ramon Magsaysay, who died on March 17, 1957 (read blog here).
But decades later, the cemetery in Malinong became too congested as the town and its population grew. They had to find a new site for another cemetery in the 1960s, and this was when the wishes of Don Gonzalo and Doña Simeona to donate a large piece of land that would serve as the final resting place for the departed Victoriahanon were finally realized.
Measuring about 19,813 square meters, the Victorias Catholic Cemetery was donated by the Ditching clan to the Diocese of Bacolod, and the Cemetery is now in the care of the Our Lady of Victory Parish.
After clearing the land of trees and vegetation, the cemetery plan was drawn up, and the coffins, bones and sacred soil in the Malinong cemetery were transported to the new cemetery. If a family of the departed was not able to arrange for a new grave at the new site, those bones were put together in a common grave that is now called 'katilingban', meaning, a community.
In a public cemetery, a 'katilingban' is a small block of concrete where bones of the nameless dead from graves that had to be unearthed are buried. This is where you can light a candle for a departed whose grave or bones could no longer be located, or whose remains were exhumed and transferred to the common grave.
Before families visited their departed loved ones on November 1 or 2 every year, family members would visit the grave days before to have it cleaned or repainted white to prepare it for a proper visit by the family. Masses for the dead are held during those days at the cemetery.
With this huge land that he gave up for no monetary compensation, Don Gonzalo Ditching should be honored by the City of Victorias for this generosity of providing a resting place for the departed Victoriahanon.
According to his descendants, this cemetery was not the only piece of land that he freely gave to the town as he was also the donor of the land where the Victorias City Hall and the Victorias Public Plaza stand today, and for this alone, he should also be given proper recognition.
That claim of him being the donor of the land of the município and plaza is one thing that I could believe as I was able to disprove another claim of some people in position that it was Alejandro Acuna Yap-Quina who donated the land for the municipio and town plaza. The land that was donated by Alejandro Acuna Yap-Quin was located next to the Malihaw River as per the description of its exact location narrated by the former mayor Esteban Jalandoni in his memoirs (read blog here). I have always believed that the donors of the land of the município and public plaza were the hacienderos who owned land that was situated near the current city center.
So, when we all visit the Victorias Catholic Cemetery to light candles for our departed, we also remember the kind Victoriahanon who donated the land where all of our departed are resting in eternal peace.
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