Filipino funerarias and Feast of the Dead

Each year on November 1 and 2, Filipinos visit their departed loved ones in memorial gardens and cemeteries. The respect for and veneration of the dead is an old practice of humanity; all cultures of the world have long histories of funerary practices and death. Over the centuries, this has taken on a religious tone, making the activities surrounding death become elaborate and ritualistic. As seen in many burials and tombs of ancient peoples, all cultures made sure their departed loved ones were properly prepared for the afterlife.

Over the years, death has also become a very big business. The global deathcare services industry was valued at $115.4 billion in 2020 and projected to grow to $160 billion by 2027. The online databank Statista estimated in the same year that the revenues of funeral and related activities in the Philippines was around ?5.6 billion. In the past, funeral homes in the Philippines were almost always owned by families. A sampling of the number of funeral parlors may be gleaned from various business directories in Manila in the years 1909 (11 funeral parlors), 1915 (8), 1921 (8), and 1933 (20). Only very few of these families in the funerary services industry continue to exist today, and it is interesting to look at some of the more popular ones.

One of the oldest names in the industry is the Quiogue family of Manila. Don Feliciano Quiogue y Pilapil, a Chinese mestizo with roots to Pateros, started his funeral business in 1894. As with most funeral parlors at that time, it was simply called La Funeraria (the Funeral Parlor). Since its office was in Salazar Street, it was unofficially known as La Funeraria Salazar. It would later grow into the most trusted in the funerary industry, getting exclusive contracts with the colonial government to bury indigent bodies in Manila. By 1910, Feliciano's son, Vicente, opened his own funeral business named Funeraria Nacional. For decades, both funerarias became known as the funeral homes of Philippine presidents and heroes and buried Presidents Emilio Aguinaldo until Diosdado Macapagal, as well as prominent personalities like industrialist Pedro Pablo Roxas, painter Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, revolutionary Miguel Malvar, and even a sister of Jose Rizal, Josefa Rizal. All four children of Feliciano Quiogue had their own funeral parlors and while the original two Quiogue businesses no longer exist, the ones started by Jose’s children in the ‘60s still operate today, making the Quiogues the only Filipino family to have operated in this industry for 130 years.

One of the earliest funerarias in Cebu was La Funeraria, owned by Petra Veloso and her sons, from as early as 1901. It sold its coffins at affordable prices and had the slogan ‘free for the truly poor’, which endeared it to the public. Another Cebuano funeral parlor was Funeraria Cebuana, which offered full funerary services and was owned by the Dillo y Villamor Family.

While funeral parlors today are mostly operated by big companies, a few still exist that are family-owned: Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes, well-known in Cebu and in Mindanao, started by Renato Dychangco Sr., which opened its first branch in Cebu City in 1950; St. Peter Memorial Chapels, founded by the couple Francisco M. Bautista and Basilisa R. Bautista (St. Peter Life Plan on October 27, 1970, while St. Peter Memorial Chapels on June 6, 1975); and La Funeraria Paz, which began in 1900 and owned by the descendants of Petronilo del Rosario, continues to be a popular name in Manila. Some funerarias, like Arlington Memorial, Heritage Memorial, and The Sanctuarium, are favorites of more affluent Filipino families.

Funeral services offered by these funeral parlors guarantee Filipino families a chance to spend a few more days with their deceased loved ones and to make sure that their dearly departed are given a proper and respectable sendoff for the afterlife.