Two carpentry course grads make coffins for a living

RARE JOB. Two young women (both in their mid-20s), who took up a carpentry course in a vocation school in their province (Capiz), are earning a living by making wooden coffins for some funeral homes in Panay. An Ear informer said the two co-own a coffin factory, a business no one else in their province has gotten into.

SUPERSTITION. The two young women, who are first-degree cousins, were at first discouraged by their elders from going into this kind of business for superstitious reasons. But they couldn’t be stopped. Today, they have 10 carpenters helping them make coffins, most of which are made-to-order by funeral parlors in many places in Panay Island.