Short on cash? Try rent-a-coffin

There’s rent-a-car. So why not rent-a-coffin?

With many Filipinos living in poverty and thus, cannot afford metal caskets for their departed love ones, a 42-year-old Filipino inventor has come up with the idea of renting them out.

Antonio Andes thought of undertaking a coffin rental business after he was unable to provide a decent casket for his sister when she died, aggravating the pain of his loss.

Andes explained his invention is made of two caskets — one inside another. The interior coffin is made of wood while the outer part — the one that can be rented — is metal.

Andes pointed out that renting a metal casket is practical, with a fee of only P8,500 — way cheaper than its usual commercial price of P60,000 or higher.

"Habang nakaburol nasa metal casket (The remains are in the metal casket," he said.

Andes also assured that microbes would not transfer from one place to another because the metal coffins are sealed.

"Hygienically walang mikrobyo (There are no harmful microbes)," he said.

It was in 1997 when Andes’ sister died. And he said he felt not only the pain of losing his sister, but also of not providing her with a decent enough casket because their family could not afford it.

He added that a casket usually represents a person’s social status.

Sadly, however, it was when Andes’ father died last May 17 that he first got to use his invention.

Andes said he received funding assistance of more than P500,000 for his invention from the Technology Application and Promotion Institute, an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology.

He said the patent of his invention was released just two months ago.

Andes said his target market is not only the lower or middle classes, but also well off families who want to cremate the bodies of their departed loved ones.

Aside from his coffin rental business, Andes is also set to launch his invention of a customized casket.

He said a coffin would be designed based on the person’s interest or passion when he or she was still alive.

"Example, if (he or she) loves to go to Boracay, then we will print on the casket an image of the island," he said.

Andes said the target market for this are upper-class families, but he did not disclose how much a customized casket costs.

Andes said those who are interested in the service may reach him through telephone no. 6102041.