USI UNDER SPECIAL INVESTIGATION TOUGHEST JOBS SERIES BUHAY PATAY

USI
S06E04
Air date: 12 June 2011
Sundays, 10:00 PM

The Business of Death

Next on USI (Under Special Investigation), host Paolo Bediones takes up the scalpel and learns the art and business—of death.

The mortuary industry is a business that will never die. With about 400,000 deaths in the country annually, it earns more than two billion pesos. And though the economy may slump, there has never been a record of a funeral parlor going down the grave.

Anthropological evidence shows that as early as 2,000 B.C. our ancestors paid respect to their dead. Like in ancient Egypt, the Ibaloi tribe in Kabayan, Benguet mummified their corpses and practiced burial rites according to the dead's status in life.

But mummification has been long dead and gone—for humankind, at least. In Manila, taxidermy or the art of preserving animals, continues to thrive, much to the comfort of bereaved pet owners--and to the wicked obssession of collectors.

Today Filipinos, rich and poor alike, continue to pay respect to the dead—whether it be in the marbled halls of La Funeraria Paz or in a random alley in the outskirt of the metropolis.

In this episode of USI, join Paolo as he goes behind the closed doors and into the silent world of modern-day embalmers.

The business of death is under special investigation inside USI on Sunday, 12 June 2011, 10:00 PM on TV5.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• USI
• EMBALSAMADOR
• EMBALMER
• ANA PUOD
• PAOLO BEDIONES
• TV5
• FUNERAL HOMES
• TAXIDERMIST
• MUMMY
• ANIMALS