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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
A priest is helping1 Philippine families cremate2 and honor drug war victims at no cost
MANILA, Philippines — On a recent morning, 44-year-old Lorna Macatuggal showed up at Tala Cemetery4 in Caloocan City, north of the capital, to oversee5 a difficult task: the exhumation6 of her brother Jefferson Macatuggal's remains7.
Her brother was shot dead at age 38 on March 29, 2017, and she says she believes vigilantes marked him as a drug dealer8 and killed him. That would make him one of the thousands killed during Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.
At the time, Macatuggal didn't have the money to put her brother's body in a permanent grave — so she rented one.
She says she paid a little over $700 for a five-year lease on what Filipinos call "rental9 gravesites" or "apartment graves." That's cheaper than the typical $900 families pay for such a lease, which is the average monthly salary for most Filipinos. Meanwhile, a more permanent gravesite can cost as much as $2,000 for a 30 to 40-year lease.
Now, the lease on her brother's gravesite is about to expire and, even though Macatuggal and her husband both have jobs, they don't have the money to renew it. She takes care of six kids, she says. Three of them are her own; three of them the orphans10 of her brother. If she cannot pay to renew the lease, Jefferson's bones will be exhumed11 and thrown into a mass, unmarked grave with others whose loved ones could not afford permanent burial sites.
"We feel uneasy," Macatuggal says. "If he gets transferred [to a mass grave] we might not be sure if that's even our brother anymore in that compilation12 of bones."
So, when she heard about a program that would cremate the remains and find a permanent resting place for the ashes — free of charge to her — Macatuggal jumped at the chance to participate.
A nonprofit helps families honor slain13 relatives
"Since they lost their loved ones, usually their bread winners, they are not able to afford to procure14 their own private land or box to place their loved ones," Catholic priest Flaviano "Flavie" Villanueva tells NPR.
He's the 52-year-old founder15 of Project Arise, an offshoot of his more well-established Program Paghilom, a Catholic nonprofit that has helped widows and orphans of victims with food assistance, counseling resources and other services since Duterte's war on drugs began in 2016.
The idea for Project Arise is simple: Families agree to have their relatives' bodies exhumed from their temporary graves to be cremated16, and then the ashes are placed in a more permanent location.
Since launching in April 2021, the project has exhumed and cremated over 50 bodies, at no cost to the participating families. That's only about 18% of the nearly 300 families in Program Paghilom with loved ones killed in just 2016, according to Villanueva.
But providing this service is not cheap. The entire process costs around $900 per case, Villanueva says, and that does not include the more permanent resting place, such as a plot of land or burial box purchased for the family, for the ashes. To ensure the program remains free, he's been borrowing money from friends and relying on donations from other private citizens in the Philippines. Sometimes a generous, anonymous17 benefactor18 will sponsor a whole family, but that's rare, he says.
This weighs on Villanueva's mind as he knows this difficult work will be ongoing19 for a long time, because as each year passes, more "apartment grave" leases will inevitably20 come up for renewal21. Ultimately, thousands of families could find themselves in the same exact position as Macatuggal in the years to come.
Thousands have died, many in extrajudicial killings22
The Philippines Drug Enforcement Agency recorded more than 6,200 suspects killed during anti-drug operations from July 2016 to November 2021. But reports from human rights groups and the United Nations say the real death toll23 could be between 12,000 and 30,000. including thousands of people killed outside of official police operations.
Most of the deaths are from extrajudicial killings, rights groups and researchers say, the victims' families never receiving any justice or closure. The police may write up a report on the incident, but further investigations25 requested by families can languish26 for years.
Macatuggal believes her brother was one of those victims.
According to a police report reviewed by NPR, a preliminary investigation24 found that a shooter appeared from behind Jefferson Macatuggal, fatally shot him, and then "fled to [an] undisclosed destination." Police could not identify the suspect or determine a motive27 at the time, the report says.
The family chose not to seek further investigation, not knowing how or where to start, the victim's sister says.
Project Arise is for the dead and the living
Five years later, Macatuggal needed to move her brother's body. That's where Project Arise stepped in.
As the priest Villanueva says, the project is meant to help both the dead and the living.
"For the families who were robbed of the opportunity to grieve," he says. "If they do this in a proper way, with the proper guidance, I think there's a better chance that their tomorrows will be better."
After the bodies are cremated, he turns the ashes over to the families in a personally engraved30, white marble urn28. The handover typically takes place during an emotional ceremony held in a church. The families get to keep the urns29 for a while but are then asked to place them in a final, more permanent resting place.
Karen Gomez-Dumpit, a commissioner31 with the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, attended a recent handover ceremony. She says the commission, which is an independent, constitutionally mandated32 body that investigates alleged33 human rights violations34, is thankful for programs like this because they "help the poorest of the poor."
"The drug war has actually been employing 'othering'; they say [poor people allegedly involved with drugs are] not humans," Gomez-Dumpit says. She notes many observers have described the anti-drug campaign as a war against the poor.
"Father Flavie witnesses that every day by helping out these families," she says. "So, we're really very grateful for his work and the foundation, but it really takes a village to help these families find healing."
The family of Jefferson Macatuggal may also finally be able to find some healing in laying his body to rest in a more permanent and dignified35 place.
Following the exhumation of her brother's remains, Lorna Macatuggal says that while she feels a mixture of both sadness and anger, a sense of peace has come over her. She says she hopes Project Arise can help other families finally feel that same peace.
![收听单词发音](/images/play.gif)
1
helping
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n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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2
cremate
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v.火葬,烧成灰 | |
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3
transcript
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n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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cemetery
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n.坟墓,墓地,坟场 | |
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oversee
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vt.监督,管理 | |
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exhumation
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n.掘尸,发掘;剥璐 | |
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remains
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n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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8
dealer
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n.商人,贩子 | |
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9
rental
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n.租赁,出租,出租业 | |
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10
orphans
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孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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11
exhumed
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v.挖出,发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
compilation
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n.编译,编辑 | |
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slain
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杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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14
procure
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vt.获得,取得,促成;vi.拉皮条 | |
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15
Founder
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n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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16
cremated
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v.火葬,火化(尸体)( cremate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
anonymous
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adj.无名的;匿名的;无特色的 | |
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18
benefactor
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n. 恩人,行善的人,捐助人 | |
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19
ongoing
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adj.进行中的,前进的 | |
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inevitably
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adv.不可避免地;必然发生地 | |
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21
renewal
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adj.(契约)延期,续订,更新,复活,重来 | |
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22
killings
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谋杀( killing的名词复数 ); 突然发大财,暴发 | |
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23
toll
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n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟) | |
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24
investigation
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n.调查,调查研究 | |
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25
investigations
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(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究 | |
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26
languish
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vi.变得衰弱无力,失去活力,(植物等)凋萎 | |
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motive
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n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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urn
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n.(有座脚的)瓮;坟墓;骨灰瓮 | |
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29
urns
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n.壶( urn的名词复数 );瓮;缸;骨灰瓮 | |
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30
engraved
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v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的过去式和过去分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中) | |
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commissioner
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n.(政府厅、局、处等部门)专员,长官,委员 | |
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mandated
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adj. 委托统治的 | |
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33
alleged
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a.被指控的,嫌疑的 | |
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34
violations
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违反( violation的名词复数 ); 冒犯; 违反(行为、事例); 强奸 | |
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dignified
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a.可敬的,高贵的 | |
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