Planning on dying?

Planning on dying? Read this!

Many years back my younger brother Mike asked if I had a burial plan. I casually said yes and told him buy me a traditional banig, roll me up in it and throw me into the Pasig River. Of course I did not have a plan and until recently I was not “planning” on dying. Most people don’t. It may be a subconscious act of denial, delay or simply something we were never taught or trained to prepare for. Ironically it is the most certain thing we all have in common.

Call it maturing, financial responsibility, or simply making sure I don’t leave a mess or a burden behind, but I recently decided that I have to start “planning” on dying. I started searching, asking and reading about burial plans, costs, etc. First thing I learned is that not many people engage in such a pre-need service like they used to in the ’80s, perhaps because there is very little profit in it for “agents.” There is also the possibility that when the actual needs start ringing up, the experience can be very emotional or traumatic. Seriously, it takes a lot of heart and guts to stand by grieving widows or orphans while you assist them in choosing a coffin, a grave sight or make decisions about the ceremony!

There is also the fact that the 1990s ushered in the decade of shame and ill refute for the pre-need insurance industry because of big time and big name scammers who ripped off entire companies or embezzled their clients’ money. That alone must have pushed back pre-need in peoples’ financial priorities. The industry of course still has its fault and one of these is their failure to educate the public on inflationary impact on such funeral plans.

Someone I know has been saying for so long that their funeral plans are all in good nick and ready because they paid for it years ago. I actually spoke to their agent and found out that they paid for a “cremation plan” on installment and the plan was fully paid in the late ’90s. Yes they paid for the plan, but they never knew that what they paid for was P9,000 (the price of cremation in the 1990s) plus the interest became P21,000 +/- as of 2015. However the price of a standard cremation ONLY is now at an industry average of P50,000! So if God forbid, the intended client croaked, those left behind will find themselves screaming at the agent and the plan provider.

Most buyers have the impression that once they’ve paid; it sticks! But there is apparently a factor of elasticity on prices because of “inflation.” So if you were not “planning” on dying, you better start making serious plans and if you have a pre-existing plan, better get an update and clarification of terms especially for people who are in their advanced stage of seniority and are subject to memory loss. Ignorance may be bliss but the longer you let it roam the bigger it gets and comes back to bite you! As for me, the Pasig River ceremony is out, so my wife said she’ll just bring me to Lipa for a cheaper burial. To that I retorted that it would still cost her money because of all the permits she would have to secure to transport my leftovers through at least eight cities or municipalities! Of course she had an answer: No problem, I’ll strap you on the front sit just like in the movies and get you there.

Yes its dark and macabre but the point is to make people realize death and dying need not be feared, we need to plan for it.

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At a time when the members of the Philippine National Police face some of their greatest challenges, we in the community must provide encouragement, support and help them to rise above all the negativity that surrounds our brothers and sisters in blue.

We did just that last Wednesday in Batangas City, when the Pastors and leaders of Victory Christian Fellowship coordinated with PNP Provincial Director OJ Fidel to host a seminar on Transformational Leadership. To show their appreciation and support, all the Chiefs of Police in the entire province of Batangas attended the seminar along with their Deputies. The four hour seminar was the first non-technical seminar that the officers ever attended and it was a seminar geared towards their personal development, work-life balance, analysis of leadership styles and impact and what a transformational leader was all about.

During my presentation I shared the fact that the state of affairs in the PNP is not the result of something that happened “today,” but is the result of the leadership styles and priorities of leaders who were in power 10 or 20 years ago. Bureaucratic leadership produces bureaucrats but does not improve the service. Leaders who resorted to politics and not meritocracy set an example as the way to get promotions or positions and now the PNP has become politicized and paralyzed because of the politics or promotions that is so entrenched.

But instead of wallowing in self-pity or sense of shame or loss, today’s tragedies and embarrassment should stand as evidence and proof that junior officers must rethink the norm, redefine their culture of leadership and learn who, what and how to be Transformational Leaders, who identify their teams or disciples, who think out of the box, invest on others, cast a grand vision, show people how things need to be done, willing to learn, willing to fail and most especially also be willing to share in the penalty of failure and not just the glory.

If we want to raise up our police officers, then we must go to them and teach them, show them and care for them. We transform them by serving them.

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