Imagine walking into a cemetery and seeing a red “X” painted on your mother’s grave. Imagine being told you cannot visit, cannot repair, cannot maintain the resting place of someone you buried with tears and prayers.

Imagine being forced to cremate a loved one because a burial was halted over a payment dispute. They are dead, show them some respect.

What kind of society marks graves like unpaid parking tickets?

In Mogpog, Marinduque, residents have accused the management of Ala-Ala Memorial Park of doing exactly that — doubling and tripling maintenance fees without consultation, removing headstones, restricting access to mausoleums, and marking tombs with red paint for non-payment.

Under Philippine law, graves are not commercial collateral. The Revised Penal Code penalizes acts that offend religious feelings and desecrate burial sites. The Code on Sanitation protects the sanctity of cemeteries. Even basic decency demands restraint.

Yet families say interments have been halted over payment disputes.

The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development has issued a notice of violation. The memorial park has 15 days to explain. The local government says it is “gathering details.”

But residents insist this has been going on for years.

How do violations go on for years in a small municipality where everyone knows everyone? How do headstones get removed without anyone noticing? How does a memorial park operate in controversy, while officials say they are only just learning about it?

The dead cannot defend themselves. They cannot negotiate. They cannot argue their case. The only thing they have left is their name etched in stone.

And if we allow that stone to be painted over, chipped away, or used as leverage — what does that say about us?

A cemetery is sacred ground. There are ways to collect fees. There are legal remedies. There are courts. There are notices. But there is no justification — moral or civil — for humiliating the dead to pressure the living.

Eli’s parallel universe

In a Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) forum, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona Jr. boldly proclaimed that confidence in the Philippine economy was improving and that growth will post a second-half rebound.

Those in the audience expressed amazement, particularly after Remolona cited a 50-percent rise in the BSP survey of supply chain managers, which he said indicated that confidence is returning.

“In our projections, we think that we’ll be back to normal by the second half of 2026,” he said.

Other indicators, however, said otherwise as the Philippines sank to its worst-ever ranking in Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, fueled by the flood control scandal, which led to “citizen frustration and social unrest,” slowing spending and investments, directly countering the claims of an improving sentiment. 

Also, the economy posted below target growth, casting doubt on the governor’s optimism.

Independent forecasts paint a more pessimistic outlook, suggesting the economy will underperform due to the lingering effects of the 2025 flood control corruption scandal, which stalled infrastructure spending and eroded confidence.

Bank of America (BofA) forecast a 4.6-percent gross domestic product (GDP) expansion for 2026, below target and only a modest rebound from 2025’s 4.4 percent. This is attributed to a below-target estimate in the first half as the scandal’s impact on investments and spending persists.

BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, while maintaining a 5.2-percent forecast, said this is higher due to the base effect from the slow 2025 growth. It highlighted downside risks from prolonged infrastructure delays beyond the second half, which could curb private investment and consumption. 

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projected 5.1 percent growth in 2026, rising to 5.8 percent in 2027, but emphasized the need for fiscal reforms to address persistent budget deficits and reduce tax incentives, indicating structural weaknesses that could delay any rebound.

Even the BSP’s own 5.4-percent projection is under review for a possible downward revision, as acknowledged by the governor, amid a slower-than-expected recovery in confidence. 

The forecasts collectively suggest growth will average around 5 percent or less, which is far from a robust “rebound.”

When the BSP gov speaks, the experts listen to get a bearing on where the market and the economy are heading — but not to Remolona, who seems to be existing on a different plane.