24 Nov 2025 · 4 min
Filipino funerals involve the whole family for weeks, with 24-hour wakes, hosting duties, and logistics that require significant time off work. John Jonas explains the stages from hospital paperwork through cemetery arrangements, and why foreign employers unfamiliar with these norms should expect staff to need extended leave.
Hello and welcome to the Secret Sauce of Outsourcing Podcast, the podcast that's dedicated to making you better at outsourcing your work. My name is John Jonas and this is episode 35, Filipino funerals are a Family Affair. So in my last episode, I talked about an email that I got from Dylan and about how his OFS had thought he was gonna fire her because her aunt died and her sister actually got fired from her job because her aunt died and she was at the funeral. So I told this to my ofs, Julia, who is one of my content writers and managers. She's amazing and here's what she told me. And some of this I'm going to quote from her, and some of this I'm just going to tell you. So it's something that you need to be prepared for because it's going to happen to you at some point if you have people working for you in the Philippines. So funerals in the Philippines are a family affair. The process of a funeral, start from start to finish, is so long, complicated and time consuming that when this happens, everybody really has to pitch in. So for most people, it starts with dealing with the hospital to have the body released to a funeral home. So someone in the family handles the payment and paperwork. This usually takes a couple of days. The paperwork takes even longer unless it's a Covid related death, which is interesting right now. Then the body is released to an accredited funeral home and cremated within 24 hours. So right now with COVID that's super fast. So at the same time this is going on, people at home start arranging the religious traditions, like calling for a priest or a spiritual leader and buying things for the ceremonies. Another group of family members are responsible for picking up the clothes and personal items that are buried with the dead. They also help get clothes for other family members to wear for the wake and funeral, according to tradition. So there's a lot of. There's a lot of tradition going on here. So she says some families opt to be at the funeral home when the body is being processed. This is to ensure that the deceased is prepared according to religious practice. Once the loved one has been released to the family, that's when the wake begins. This can happen either at home or at a chapel. So another group within the family would be responsible for preparing the place to make it presentable for guests. Different family members then sign up for shifts to cover the 24 hour vigils. So in the Philippines, it's a tradition that there should always be someone await at a wait and the Length of the wait can range between a few days to a few weeks, depending on the tradition and what the family wants. Family coming home from faraway places to the funeral, it'll take time, so someone has to be there all the time. And this is taxing on people. So she, she continues with this. It's also expected that you should be able to receive visitors anytime until the funeral. The ones on vigil would also act as hosts and are expected to serv serve the guests with food and drink. This is why if you attend a Filipino wake, you'll sometimes see karaoke machines or card tables. It's mainly to keep the ones on vigil duty awake. This is long. So while this is happening, you have a different logistics team that ensures there's always food and drink available at the wake because it's bad luck to run out. And this continues until the funeral actually happens and the body is buried or ashes are taken home. So this can be weeks long. And now you start to see why someone would be worried that they're gonna get fired. Julia writes, the loved one is going to be buried in a cemetery. Another team has to handle that. They talk to the cemetery and the local government and make arrangements for the funeral procession. That means talking to the police to provide an escort, renting vehicles to transport the family, getting the tent and the chairs, preparing the food at the cemetery and after the funeral. She says, I have helped out with several funerals over the years, not kidding about how complicated it is. We start using a free task management system to keep track of what needed to be done. I mean this, this is why your OFS is going to ask for time off and why they're scared about being fired. When there's a death in the family, it seems like they're making an excuse. And I've had this happen quite a few times where people are like, oh, I think my, my VA just gave me an excuse. They said their mother in law died and, and they need 10 days off. And I'm like, well, I mean that's probably legit. So just be prepared for this. If you've already dealt with it, I'd love to hear what you have. What happened with for you? I'm johnnlinejobsph as my email. Otherwise, just be prepared for it to happen to you at some point.
