Small Pampanga town hosts P1-B coffin industry
26 Oct 2013 Written by Joey Pavia / Correspondent
SANTO TOMAS, Pampanga—This small town that has only seven barangays and
suffers from perennial floods is host to the P1-billion coffin-making
industry.
Santo Tomas Mayor Joselito Naguit, quoting from a recent report of the
Department of Trade and Industry, said the town supplies at least 70
percent of the total coffins produced in the country.
Naguit said there are more than 100 coffin manufacturers in Santo Tomas,
including the backyard producers.
The BusinessMirror interviewed Naguit and several others on the
country's coffin industry as preparations are being made to mark All
Souls' Day, when millions of Filipinos troop to cemeteries nationwide to
pay their respects to their dearly departed.
In the Philippine Demographics Profile 2013, it was estimated that there
are 4.98 deaths per 1,000 people per year in the country, which now has
a population of 105 million.
Naguit said 40 percent of the town's 40,000 residents depend on the
industry, which reportedly started at the height of World War II in the
1940s.
The three-term mayor said some of his young constituents are enticed to
skip education early after earning while working for the coffin
manufacturers, most of which are in Barangay San Vicente.
Naguit said the local government does not have much of a problem on
livelihood opportunities because of the industry.
He said in the 1970s, the industry gained acceptance from the locals—and
even visitors—and allowed many of the town's households to become
economically productive. Before then, Santo Tomas folk used to hide when
they made coffins.
But nowadays, it is normal for motorists to see unfinished coffins being
done along the streets.
Most profitable
VICE Mayor Mark Louie Arceo, whose family operates one of the top
producers of coffins in Santo Tomas brand named SLRC, said the coffin
industry "is the most profitable business."
Arceo revealed that the coffin of the late "King of Comedy" Dolphy was
made in Santo Tomas. Dolphy's funeral service cost about P500,000 and at
least 40 percent, or P200,000, was for the brass coffin.
The coffin of legendary actor Fernando Poe Jr. was also made in Santo
Tomas, said Arceo, whose family also operates the Saint Louie Funeral
Home, which has four branches in Pampanga and two in Metro Manila—in San
Juan City and in Sampaloc.
Arceo said his company produces an average of 150 coffins weekly. He
added they have at least 30 regular workers.
Nic Macam, who works at the SLRC coffin-manufacturing plant, said he
earns at least P500 a day doing an "all-around job."
Macam, who has been working for at least 30 years in
coffin-manufacturing plants in Santo Tomas, said, "It's quite a good job."
Arceo said even those not directly hired by the coffin makers, including
young people and housewives, benefit from the industry because the
interior designs of the coffins are "outsourced" from them.
Among the coffin workers, the "welder-assembler" earns the highest,
getting paid at least P1,000 a day, Arceo said.
Arceo said SLRC's coffins reach as far as the Bicol region. He added
that the company is the supplier of coffins for the La Funeraria Paz in
Quezon City.
Arceo said his father, former Mayor Lucas Arceo, started the plant 30
years ago. His grandfather, Florencio, also operated a
coffin-manufacturing plant where Lucas worked, Arceo said.
The cheapest coffin costs P5,000, while the most expensive made of brass
costs some P200,000.
Keep it in town
ARCEO said the local government is pushing for the creation of a
cooperative of coffin makers to "stabilize the prices of the coffins."
"More important," he added," the industry must be kept in Santo Tomas
for the benefit of the present and future generations."
Arceo cited a case several years ago when workers from Negros Occidental
had been hired in Santo Tomas. "The workers hurriedly left after
learning 'the secret of making coffins.'"
"As a result, a small coffin industry was set up in Negros Occidental
and its capital, Bacolod City," he added.
Naguit said, "We are exhausting all means to keep the manufacturing of
coffins in Santo Tomas." He added that they had received reports there
are a few coffin-manufacturing plants in other towns and cities in
Pampanga operating now.
Inherited
PAMPANGA Gov. Lilia Pineda said the people of Santo Tomas "are, indeed,
great craftsmen." Their skills are passed on from one generation to
another, she added.
Pineda said Santo Tomas is also known for its pottery industry and
assembly of jeeps and Jeepneys.
"The Santo Tomas townspeople are, indeed, hardworking and superbly
skilled," she added.
Pineda said, "It pains us when we help our tragedy-stricken neighbors by
donating coffins to them, but we have no choice."
In 2011 the fourth-class municipality hogged the limelight when Pineda
and the Pampanga Mayors' League donated 500 coffins for Typhoon
Sendong's victims in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
