A Swiss national who had died of a lingering illness could not be buried yet in the absence of a death certificate, which a hospital in Dumaguete City had allegedly refused to release due to unpaid bills.
Msgr. Julius Heruela, parish priest of the St. Augustine of Hippo Parish in Bacong, Negros Oriental, disclosed that he couldn’t allow the burial of the demised foreigner at the Catholic cemetery in his town because a death certificate is required by the Diocese of Dumaguete.
The Swiss national, identified as a Christian Gafner, had died last October 9, as stated in a communication from the Embassy of Switzerland in Manila that gave a confirmation that it has no objection to the burial of the former.
Msgr. Heruela disclosed that some friends of the late Gafner came to see him Wednesday morning, asking that the dead Swiss citizen be buried at the Catholic cemetery in Bacong.
However, when asked if they had a death certificate, they could not furnish one because the hospital had allegedly did not issue the document because of unpaid bills amounting to some P200,000.
The priest said he learned that the Embassy of Switzerland issued two documents, dated Oct. 17, 2017, stating that they had no objection to the burial of Gafner here, and giving authorization to another Swiss national here to organize the dead man’s burial.
But Msgr. Heruela said the Catholic Church is strict in its requirement of asking for a death certificate before a dead person can be buried in a Catholic cemetery.
The body of the late Gafner is now at the Green Pastures funeral home as friends continue to look for other options for his burial.
The hospital administrators could not be reached for comment on the matter. (Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)