All public and private cemeteries in Tagbilaran City will be totally closed from the public during the observance of “All Souls Day” and “All Saints Day”.

The complete closure of all graveyards will commence on October 29, 2020, or 3 days before All Souls Day, and will end on November 4, 2020, or 2 days after All Saints Day.

This is based on Executive Order No. 35, series of 2020, issued by Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnell Yap II.

The executive order however emphasize that those who want to pay respects to their deceased loved ones at their burial grounds will have the chance to do so from October 15 to 28, and then from November 5 to 15, 2020, provided that the number of people will only be up to 50-percent of the cemetery’s capacity.

The city mayor’s order is in line with EO No. 48 issued by Governor Arthur Yap, which extended the period placing the entire province of Bohol under a modified general community quarantine from October 1, 2020 up to November 30, 2020.

In the same EO, the governor ordered a lockdown on all cemeteries in the province, whether public or private, beginning October 31 up to November 3, 2020.

The governor’s and city mayor’s directives break the yearly Filipino tradition of flocking to cemeteries during “kalag-kalag” to commemorate and pay respects to their departed loved ones, as part of the government’s efforts and initiatives in the fight against the spread of COVID-19.