By DIEGO MORRA
Owners of columbarium crypts at the Risen Christ Memorial Garden (RCMG) at the St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori Parish in Magallanes Village, Makati City have asked Jose F. Cardinal Advincula of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM) to help them secure the official receipts of their payments, expressing surprise why only scanned copies of their checks and official receipts from the parish were provided to them.
An owner said she wants the Cardinal to look into the matter inasmuch as she paid P100,000 in cash as deposit for the two crypts on July 26, 2022 and completed the payment promptly on August 19, 2022 by issuing BPI check No. 161790 for P350,000, to complete the payment of the two crypts. The parish issued acknowledgment receipt No. 911006 and No. 911007 for P175,000 each.
She noted that the parish did not issue a receipt for the deposit of P100,000, with an official just acknowledging the receipt of the check for Crypt No. 11A and Crypt No. 12A as “reservation.”
In a letter to Rev. Msgr. Roberto Canlas on June 17, 2025, the owner said Rev. Msgr. Claro Garcia offered the crypts in a letter dated June 14, 2022 and she accepted the offer through her sister who visited the parish and reserved Crypt 11A and Crypt 12A for her and her son at the RCMG.
She told Rev. Canlas that despite completing the payment of the two crypts in August 2022, she has not received any deed or certificate of ownership over the two crypts. She requested Rev. Canlas to expedite the release of these documents to formalize their ownership of the two crypts.
In her June 19, 2025 letter to Cardinal Advincula, through his private secretary Fr. Mico Dillera, the owner wondered why, after a lapse of nearly three years, the parish has not yet delivered the deed of sale and certificate of ownership to her. She told His Eminence that all she has are mere scanned copies of the checks she had issued for payment of the total P450,000 for Crypt No. 11A and Crypt No. 12A.
“I have fully paid and submitted all the required documents, including all the birth certificates and baptismal certificates of the beneficiaries, with regard to the sale of the two niches as early as August 2022. To date, I have not received any deed/certificate of ownership for the same,” the owner told the Cardinal.
“The documents that were given to me as proof of purchase and payments were only scanned copies of the originals. I believe there are a number of us with the same predicament. I hope you could look into and assist us on this matter,” she concluded.
