Addressed to Rev. Fr. Sotero R. Yutuc Jr., Chairperson, VDLR Catholic Cemetery Committee

WE THE UNDERSIGNED WOULD LIKE TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION, THE FOLLOWING PROBLEM, WITH RECOMMENDATION(S) and/or SUGGESTION(S):

STOP your plan to privatize the existing Catholic Cemetery (created as a Public Cemetery) by creating a committee of business people including yourself, who are stakeholders of the proposed private memorial park next to the existing cemetery. We are not in agreement to enter into a TENANCY AGREEMENT you are proposing for the burial lots that we KNOW we own that we or our ancestors paid to the church. This cemetery was initiated, acquired, paid and made possible by our ancestors for the benefit of the members of parish, their families and future generations. We may not be legally owners due to absence of individual titles but by adverse possession and ETHICS, we classify ourselves as the legal owners. This is because our ancestors were buried there and our relatives have been using these cemetery lots for over 30 years without interruption, either by the church or any claimant.

For over 50 years and countless parish priests assigned to VDLR Parish, parishioners were never bothered by ownership issue by the church until now. Could the reason be because of the proposed private catholic cemetery next to the old one and apparently, the parish priest himself is a business partner? This question begs to be answered since it borders on Conflict of Interest.

In order to alleviate the problem or address the issues at hand, we are recommending the implementation of the following suggestions:

• Initiate a stakeholders meeting, not an informational meeting as was held previously.
• Existing Committee be dissolved and a new Committee be formed from the stakeholders as executives and members.
• This new Committee should be the one who will create policies and by-laws in accordance with the existing Archdiocese Policies.
• Security and Maintenance of the “old” cemetery should be under the jurisdiction of the new Committee.