Family news

the mayor behind the political hit that killed our nephew, a bystander, has died of complications of diabetes and his body is now in state in his home down the street.

The bad news? He never admitted his crime...
Hmm...wonder if he went to confession...and presumably he will have a huge Catholic funeral, and no one will blink twice...

Our laundress says his family paid 500thousand pesos for his coffin alone... that is 10thousand dollars.

funerals here are expensive, but that is a bit over the top.

Joy has us in a burial insurance policy that cut the cost of Lolo's coffin (the relatives were upset that it was too "cheap").

I didn't chose the plot, but the cemetery plot was 300thousand pesos and the "house"/gazebo another 300 thousand pesos, both of which I paid for because his savings were empty when I asked for the money. Luckily, I got a backpayment for my personal pension a couple months ago that covered it. Lolo didn't want a house over his grave, but since the plot is between two houses, not in the open area where he wanted to be buried, (where there were no plots) we have to cover the gravesite.

Lolo wanted to be buried with his mom and cousins, but after Rosa and Chairman Leo being buried in the plot, it was getting crowded. The new plot will hold six people, and of course we can always double up higher if too many die.