Our last stop for this year’s cemetery tour is the Masonic Cemetery. Our street is just beside this cemetery, so our place is more popularly known as Mason, rather than its official name of Sitio Carmel.
The cemetery was constructed in the 1920s for the brothers of the Masonic Lodge. The January 23, 1928 issue of The Cabletow, the official organ of the Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines, featured the cemetery on its cover page.
The article writes:
“Our Brethren of Makawiwili Lodge No. 55, of Capiz, on the island of Panay, believe in having a beautiful resting-place for their dead. Most Wor. Bro. Joseph H. Schmidt, our Grand Master, visited the Masonic cemetery at Capiz and was much impressed with it. As a souvenir of the occasion, the Capiz Brethren had a photograph taken of Most Wor. Bro. Schmidt at the entrance of the cemetery which we reproduce on our front page. The monumental gate, with the square and compass and the legend “Masonic Cemetery" gives an impression of strength, power, and dignity and the well-kept graves show that brotherly love does not stop with the breath of the body.
“Our Capiz Brethren are to be congratulated upon their cemetery and are sincerely hope that their example will be followed generally as our Lodges in the provinces grow and prosper.”
The most prominent personality buried in the Masonic Cemetery is Jose Cortez Altavas, one of the most revered statesmen in prewar Philippines who served as Assemblyman, Governor, Senator, Representative, Delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and a highly-esteemed Mason. He died on August 21, 1952 and was buried at the center of the Masonic Cemetery, opposite the imposing arch.
Sadly, the Masonic cemetery – just like the adjacent Catholic cemetery - has fallen in neglect through the years. I remember when I was a child, the Masonic cemetery had the eerie, park-like vibe, with frangipanis around, giving off a distinct fragrance. Children my age would usually harvest the flowers that fell off the ground or pluck an entire bunch of these and make them into little bouquets. Behind the cemetery was a coconut grove and we would sometimes take a shortcut through this on our ventures into the cemetery. The coconut grove led to nipa swampland and cutting across is a dirt road that passes through the extension of the Catholic Cemetery and ends at McKinley Street.
Today, the coconut grove has given way to a thicket that leads to an informal settlement. It was all different now than what it was decades ago. by Christian George Acevedo, November 3, 2023.
Masonic Cemetery, November 2, 2019
References:
- The Cable Tow, volume 7, no. 8, January 1928.
- Jose Cortes Altavas [Find A Grave].
Image Sources:
- [1] The Cable Tow, vol. 7, no. 8, January 1928
- [3,4] Hutch Altavas Facebook Post
1 comment:
I love walking around and spending comtemplative time in cemeteries. They offer the history of local people and often the best monumental masonry. I have been dissapointed in the Philippines at the poor upkeep of the majority of the cemeteries I've visited, rubbish often strewn everywhere, uncut grass, weeds growing, peeling paint. I personally find it disrespectful, the deceased deserve better.
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