San Carlos City

The year 2000 gave yet another milestone for San Carlos City in Galing Pook, when it was awarded for its
program Punongkahoy sa Bawat Pumanaw, which aimed both to decongest the old city cemetery and to
save the forests of San Carlos from denudation. The City provided niches at reduced cost, with the
bereaved families committing to plant a tree in the tree park, which is 12 kilometers away from the city
center, for every niche used. After five years, the bones are exhumed from the niche and transferred to
the foot of the tree planted by the beneficiaries. Sustaining the program after winning the Galing Pook,
however, was not without difficulty. Tree planting was not well coordinated, resulting to varying
spacing, height, size, and species of trees. Because of this, the City decided to make the City Agriculture
Office directly responsible for the planting of trees. There were also cases when families refused to
exhume and transfer the bones of their dearly departed to the old cemetery, particularly because of fear
of danger due to the location of the burial sites. This the City addressed by purchasing a threehectare
property for conversion into a People’s Park, with a common tombstone surrounded by trees. This
property will accommodate about 6,000 to 8,000 bones to be transferred from the old cemetery.