IT GOES without saying that people are duty-bound to give a decent burial as part of paying last respects to their dearly departed. People of different religions and cultures have their own burial practices yet one thing is for sure, all of these practices come with a price.
For Paul Magbanua, a 25-year-old resident of Ulas, Davao City, it was a struggle having lost his live-in partner Lavinia Cerera in 2008 due to a still unidentified complication after giving birth to their son Zachary. Back then, Magbanua still had no source of income while his live-in partner was still in school.
“Primero gayud wa pa nako nahuna-hunaan kung pila akong magastos sa pagpalubong kay siyempre nagaluksa pa gud ko ato sa pagka wala ni Lav human naa pa gayud mi dako nga bayronon sa ospital. Wala pa pud koy income ato bantog naglisod gayud mi. Ang mas-sakit pa gayud ato kay siyempre bago pa siyang panganak. So ang naa sa huna-huna nako kay unsaon nako pagalaga kay Zach (Initially, I didn’t think about how much we’ll spend for the burial since of course, I was still mourning and we still had a huge bill at the hospital. I also had no income back then that was why it was very difficult. The more painful thing was she just gave birth. So the thing that was constantly in my mind was how I will take care of Zach),” Magbanua told Sun.Star Davao in an interview.
He found it difficult to ask help from his mother because they were not close.
His mother was an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Japan and Magbanua said that since he was a child, they only saw other once or twice a year.
While Magbanua gets a monthly allowance from his mother, he can’t feel the closeness adding that her mother already has a new family in Japan.
He also said that Cerera’s family wasn’t much of a financial help as well since they were poor. But he was lucky enough that his mother agreed to cover the expenses for the hospital bills as well as the funeral services. But still, the overall expense for the funeral service cost a lot.
“When we were canvassing for Lav’s casket, I think the price that time was P10,000 up. Of course, I would want her to have an elegant casket but I also thought that my mother might find it too expensive. So I settled with the affordable designs,” Magbanua said.
He considered to have Lav buried at the Davao Memorial Park, wanting the best for her. The thought of having to walk through stacked tombs when he visits was also a consideration. But upon learning how much it cost, he had to reconsider. He had no life plan and his mother’s did not cover such.
Instead, they arranged Cerera’s burial at the Ulas Cemetery. It was his aunt who assisted him in processing the papers for the burial at the City Economic Enterprise where a death certificate, a burial permit from the Local Civil Registry and a P2,000 fee was required.
Prior to the burial, Magbanua arranged for a seven-day wake at their home and he said they had to pay around P3,000 per day to the funeral parlor that offered the wake services.
He also said that they sought assistance from the City Mayor’s Office through the Lingap para sa Mahirap program where he got around P7,000 worth of aid inclusive of food packs for the wake, flowers, and financial assistance.
Lastly, they had to pay more or less P6,000 for the tomb and the around P2,000 for the gravestone.
“I think we spent around P50,000 to P60,000 for the burial and wake of Lavinia. That’s why I am very thankful to my mother because if she wasn’t there to pay for the expense. It would have been a more difficult situation for me,” Magbanua said.
Magbanua is just one of the thousands of people who experience such a loss in Davao City every year. Based on the data from the City Health Office, a total of 11,359 people have died in Davao City in 2015 alone and presumably these deaths have been offered decent burials.
City Economic Enterprise coordinator Reynan Librado said there is enough room to cater to the people who have gone ahead since Davao City is home to 11 public cemeteries as well as a few number of private cemeteries.
But he was quick to add that burial space may become scarce for the following year hence, they are moving for a compartmentalized type of burial where niches will be stacked while he also suggested that Davao City should have a mass vault and a bone depository where some of the remains may be transferred.
He also said that while wake and funeral services may be quite costly, people can get a decent burial for around P18,000.
He added that qualified indigents can even get free burial services. But while some see death as a loss, some find it an opportunity particularly funeral parlors private cemeteries.
Based on the data from the Davao City Business Bureau there is a total of 23 funeral parlors that are currently registered in the city. All of these companies have invested a total capital of more than P78-million which indicates that it is a huge enterprise considering the number of deaths in the city every year.