Paco Cemetery: Manila’s finest irony

The Paco Church inside the cemetery grounds

A historic trail in the City of Manila yields historic places such as churches and cemeteries, Paco included in the lists among the best. If one looks at the historic, the grandiose and the vulgar, Paco cemetery is the place to see. Nestled in the heart of Manila, near its historic thoroughfares, Paco Cemetery that is today is flamboyant compared to its past. Though this is where the Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal was buried for 16 solemn years and also, the solemn final resting place of the esteemed three friars, GOMBURZA; today, Paco cemetery is all but a prime venue for princely weddings, debuts, concerts and pre-nuptial photo-shoots.

Manila sins: Dr. Jose Rizal’s abandoned graveyard

The graveyard of Dr. Jose Rizal in Paco cemetery, Manila

A nation so devoid of heritage is what engulfs me as I was enraged looking at how the original graveyard of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal was treated by modern Filipinos and even by the government who enjoys the freedom Dr. Jose hardly fought and won. His life, his sacrifices were sacrilegiously left in the void annals of history in the modern metropolis. Not even one which evokes pride, his lonesome graveyard is the living testament of how Filipinos treat their national hero, not a tinge of respect accorded. Why did I say so? This is what I saw when I visited the original resting place of Dr. Jose Rizal in Paco cemetery, in what used to be the center of Manila, right after he was killed by the Spaniards in Bagumbayan.

Rizal: A HIStory tucked in the Walled City of Manila

The bust of Dr. Jose Rizal greets you at his shrine

The Philippines take pride in its National Hero, the martyred poet, accomplished writer, playwright, art aficionado and an international man, Dr. Jose Rizal. His story is a constant reminder of how the Filipino waged a silent struggle against Spain, a lonesome voice of freedom and liberty, too detached from the hallucinating encumbrances of colonization. Spain, after all, is the lone colonial power who ruled the Philippines for more than 300 years and it takes a voice and the pen of Jose Rizal, to question the status quo imposed by the Spaniards.