Honoring the Dead: The Core of

Philippine Death and Burial Customs

Written by Cathyrene Penaflorida and Daron Lavado— November 07,

2020
During the Pre-Hispanic period the early Filipinos believed in a
concept of life after death; and with its long history of colonization, the
country has become culturally diverse. This included a wide range of
funeral and burial customs that Filipinos observe to honor and
remember their departed loved ones. Here are some notable burial
customs throughout the Philippines that are simply interesting and a
proof of the country’s ever-rich traditions.

The kitchen burials of Apayao

The Isneg people, an indigenous group in the province of Apayao have
unique cultures that kept them alive up to the present and still growing
specifically on burying their dead.

When an Isneg dies, he will undergo several pre-burial rites. First, the
corpse will be washed with water to cleanse it from all the dirt and
impurities. The relatives of the dead will then prepare his attire, for
they believe that the ancestral spirits recognize them by their clothes.
After these practices, the community will be informed about the death
of their neighbor before proceeding to the food offerings and animal
sacrifices. Aside from these, what makes their burial custom unique is
the place where they bury the dead bodies: under the kitchen. The
corpse will be warmed first, and his relatives will recite farewells before
it finally meets the soil and cold ground. After the burial, the bereaved
family’s house will be stoned in an act of warding off evil spirits.

A mourning bonfire at Ilocos

Bonfires usually happen at night but in the case of Ilocanos, bonfires
happen during mourning. In Ilocos, especially in Paoay, a set of rules
and practices is being implemented whenever a member of a family
dies.
When an Ilocano dies, an “atang” or bonfire is set in front of their
house. This is because they believe that the fire will guide the dead’s
spirit into the afterlife. The night will be occupied by the sounds of
grief; crying and mourning in the form of half weeping and half-singing
with an alternating high and low pitch. The relatives of the dead will
then recite their messages. If it is the dead person’s mother, she will
recite all the deeds that her son did in his entire life. If it is his wife, she
will tell all her promises looking forward to the future. Both of them
must wear black clothes, necker-chiefs and veils called “manto”
covering their heads down to their feet. After the religious rights, the
widow must go home and let other people accompany the dead body to
its final destination. They believe that the couple became one inside the
church and must also part their ways inside it.

The good grief

Grief can sometimes be good and pleasing to the eye, especially for the
Tinguians.

Tinguians are non-catholic people located in the north. They believe in

their supreme god, “Kadaklan”. Death, for them, is either caused by
bad spirits or Kadaklan himself chose to punish them (Curtis et.al.,
2014)

For several weeks they will dress the deceased in their best garments
and place them sitting on a chair. Sometimes they will even place a lit
cigarette between their lips. A chicken is placed behind the chair where
the corpse sits as a sacrifice. A pig is also offered for the spirits while
the intestines hang above the door of the house and are taken away
after the burial.

Death does not limit the Tinguians to sit, to dress up nor to smoke. It is
proof to the quote, “Life continues after death”.

Hanging coffins of Sagada

The dead bodies in Sagada are not having fun, partying, or enjoying.
They are hanging and they are placed outside, down the road- they are
literally hanging out.

If you already reached Mountain Province, you may have driven along
the mountain cliffs of Sagada and saw their coffins hanging up. This
tradition has been kept alive for 2000 years by the people of Sagada
and is still being practiced until now (Barbara, 2013).

People of Sagada believe that the higher the coffin is placed, the higher
the chance that the spirits of the dead will reach the afterlife. It is also
linked to their belief that the spirits or “anito” of the dead can cause
good luck or bad luck to the living.

The way the dead are dressed determines their social class when they
used to live (Malanes, 2003). According to Omengan (2004), there are
three types of clothes worn during burial. The Kadangyan or the upper
class wears “Los-odan”, clothes consisting of black and white stripes
used as an upper garment. Another one is the ‘baygan,’ which is worn
by the middle-class. Meanwhile, the Kudo or the poor wear the
“nababa”. All of these upper garments are paired with the same wanes
or G-string as well as the headband or “ba-a”(a dark blue hand-woven
strip of cloth measuring 5 feet). The death blanket also dictates the
dead’s social class. The Inewes’, a dark blue or black hand-woven cloth
with orange stripes and white designs in the middle, will be worn by
the rich. While the ‘kalgo’ a white hand-woven cloth with black stripes
on the edges and in the middle is to be worn by the poor.

Before the dead reach their final destination, the youngest will sing the
“ikoko” as a request for approval in dividing the properties. The
children and grandchildren of the dead are tasked to carry the coffin
towards the burial site. They are not allowed to make any noise or
commotion in honor of the corpse. The juice of the rotten body or the
“deeng” will be smeared onto the carriers of the coffin believing that it
brings good luck as well as the skills and ability of the dead person. All
the members of the family will get a chance to carry the coffin while
lighting up 7 torches regardless if it is morning. This is believed to
guide the spirits of the dead by lighting up their ways.

Dead sitting pretty: A chair-turner burial custom of Benguet

It is normal for the dead to lay down inside a coffin and rest peacefully.
Death can be similar to being paralyzed because the dead can neither
move, stand, nor sit anymore. But in Benguet, sitting does not end with
death, for they can still sit during their burial.

When an individual there dies, they are blindfolded and tied in a chair
placed beside the main entrance of their home. The evening before the
funeral, a special ritual is performed in which elders give a sort of
chant-like biography of the deceased. As the body is buried, other
members hit bamboo sticks together, which will guide the deceased
toward heaven.

Benguet mummification
The Ibaloi, the dominant ethnolinguistic group, of Kabayan have a long
traditional practice of mummifying their dead. Kabayan, Benguet, is
well known for its antiquated centuries-old mummies buried inside the
caves scattered around the villages in the town.
Mummification is attributed to the preservation of the dead and the
customs. In many regions, having the body displayed in their homes is
a form of honoring them in the afterlife.

It began before the Spanish colonization. Individuals from the higher

societal stratum of the Ibaloi of Kabayan used to be mummified
through a long ritual process over a long period. The process of
mummification using salt and herbs and set under fire may take up to
two years. When the body is finally rid of body fluids, the mummy is
placed inside a pinewood coffin and laid to rest in a man-made cave or
niche dug-out from solid rock.

Apo Anno is believed to be the first leader to be mummified in Benguet

because of his reign marked by peace and prosperity in the 12th
Century. His generation flourished and peopled many villages far and
wide from Benguet to Ifugao and Vizcaya. Since he was of high status
and the most important man in the village, he had to be mummified;
mummification is a long process. Right after his last breath, they
opened his mouth and forced him with a strong brine solution. They
even used their mouths to pump the solution into his stomach.

Tree burial customs of Caviteño

There is a group of people in the Philippines known as the Caviteño.
When a Cavite person is nearing death due to sickness or old age, the
person goes out into the forest and selects a tree. Then the family
members build the person a little hut at the base of this tree in which
they will live until they die. But they are not left alone to die. The family
and friends come out to hollow out the tree trunk of the standing tree.
When the person dies, he or she is entombed vertically in the
hollowed-out tree trunk. The symbolism is that just as trees give life to
the tribe through fruit and wood for their fires, so when a person dies,
they give their life back to the tree.

Before coffins, there were Manunggul Jars

Even our ancestors have a unique way of burying their dead. It is not
only a practice based on their instincts, but is also connected with their
cultures and religious beliefs. Manunggul Jar is one of those burial
practices that kept the history of Palaweños alive.

Many researchers studied the details of the manunggul jar including its
design and purpose. It turned out that the jar represents a piece
of our ancestor’s religious beliefs. If you are going to take a look at it,
the cover of the jar has a figure of two men riding a boat, beautifully
carved like a work of master-potter. This is proof that the early Filipino
people already established their own set of beliefs, especially on
religion. The boat and the boatman represent the spirit that will lead
the boat’s passenger (spirit of the dead) to where he belongs. Also, the
details of the figures are very realistic and are still present in our
generation. The band that the figures wear on their heads and the
position of the passenger’s arms; both of them can still be seen in our
present burial practices; though the jar is not often used today for
funeral purposes because of the influence of Catholicism.

A burial customs rooted in Cebuano’s religious beliefs

The Cebuano people, who form the second-largest cultural group in the
Philippines, recite the rosary for nine days. They adhere to several
funerary superstitions, like refraining from sweeping the floor of the
deceased’s home and instead of collecting the waste by hand. Relatives
of the deceased refrain from bathing and combing. No tears are
allowed to drop directly onto the casket. Black or white clothing must
be worn during the burial, but children are dressed in red, which
makes them less likely to see the ghosts of the deceased. Relatives are
told to pass under the casket before it is loaded into the vehicle that
will be transporting it to the grave. When leaving the cemetery relatives
to walk through smoke, to untangle the spirits of the dead from the
bodies of the living.

It is a common practice and part of their customs to have a procession

towards the church and cemetery during the burial day. The coffin with
the dead inside it is either carried by family members (or male
relatives) or loaded into a hearse. Usually, everybody will follow this
funeral march until they reach the cemetery where another prayer
ceremony will be held. The grieving family and relatives usually wear
black colored clothing to symbolize their grief or sorrow. After the
burial, there is an evening prayer for nine-day (pasiyam). Nine days is
believed to be the day when the soul of the departed leaves the world of
the living. Usually, the family does not hold any celebration for a year.
After the nine-day prayer (or novena) a forty-day prayer is also
common practice — saying the rosary, litanies, novenas, and Latin
prayers, together with the chanting of the Pahulayng Dayon (Eternal
Rest) or the “Gozos for the Dead”. Again, there is a first anniversary for
the dead and goes on for a few years.

Maitum anthropomorphic pottery

One of the ancient customs for burying the dead in the Philippines is
through the use of burial jars.

The Maitum anthropomorphic burial jars are earthenware secondary

burial vessels discovered in 1991 by the National Museum of the
Philippines’ archaeological team in Ayub Cave, Barangay Pinol,
Maitum, Sarangani Province, Mindanao, Philippines.

It is unique to the Philippines and in the whole of Southeast Asia in

that the anthropomorphic (human form) burial jars are very detailed
and meticulous, with each unit having a specific head in different
emotional states. The head-shaped covers portray different kinds of
facial expressions: sadness, joy, contentment. The heads were either
plain, perforated, or coated with red and black paints. Some have
earrings, others are tattooed. Some head-shaped covers depict teeth
while others have arms, female breasts, and male genitalia.

Furthermore, the jars emphasize the Filipinos’ popular belief in life

after death.

The Bilaan tree bark shroud

Occupying a swath of islands in the Philippines’ southern Mindanao
region, the Bilaan people have a truly unique funeral ritual. They wrap
the deceased in tree bark before raising him or her to the level of the
forest’s canopy.
The body is kept for three weeks in one’s home and it will be buried in
a coffin carved in a tree trunk. After a meal, the coffin is hung up in the
elected tree and anchored in branches. If the dead is a married woman,
the body cannot be buried as long as the husband has not given her
parents a horse (Kura) or a buffalo (carabao). Sometimes the relatives
don’t take the time to hang up the body and put it down at the foot of
the tree. In the case of a poor person, the latter is simply put on or
locked up in a bamboo trunk, with the head and feet covered by pieces
of cloth.