Zoning board nails down proposed crematorium
For the second time, businessman Greg Abecia failed in his bid to bring to Iloilo City world class funeral services after the City Zoning Board of Adjustment and Appeals (CZBAA) rejected his application to put up a crematorium in Barangay Balabago, Jaro district.
City Legal Office chief Atty. Edgar Gil said the board (CZBAA) only gave its approval for a viewing chapel for the dead as contained in Abecia's business permit.
The members of CZBAA had a split decision over the project. The board came up with such rejection after a deliberation of the project. The members of the board that gave their approval for the project were Councilor Eduardo Peñaredondo, chair of the committee on zoning and expropriation of the Sangguniang Panlungsod and City Engineer's Office chief Marito Amatorio.
The members of the board who voted against the crematorium project were Gil, Nathaniel Guillergan of the City Planning and Development Office and Boy Tobias of the City Treasurer's Office. While, representatives from the City Assessor's Office and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office abstained in the votation for the approval or disapproval of the project.
Gil, who is also the CZBAA chair said the applicant failed to meet the required distance for a crematorium. The crematorium facility should not be less than 200 meters from the nearest school. The proposed crematorium facility is only some 170 meters away from school.
Crematorium facility or crematorium furnace is used in cremation process. Cremation is the act of reducing a corpse by burning. Contrary to popular belief, the remains are not ashes but rather bone fragments which are then crushed in a device called cremulator. In funerals, cremation can be an alternative funeral rite to the burial of a body in a grave.
Other than the required distance, the proponent also failed to seek a positive endorsement of the project from the new set of barangay council. The council revoked the endorsement earlier made by the previous barangay council. There is no social acceptability of the business project, contends the board.
Nevertheless, Gil said Abecia can contest the decision of the CZBAA by filing a reconsideration. The proponent can also exercise legal means or bring the matter to the Housing Land Use and Regulatory Board (HLURB) for action.
About four years ago, Abecia planned to put up a funeral parlor in a populated subdivision in Jaro district but was also rejected due to strong objections from the community.