YP Spotlight How has your funeral home been impacted by COVID-19? Like many other funeral homes in other parts of the globe that got overwhelmed with the mass fatalities, there was also a point where we felt anxious and unsure—we asked ourselves if we would be able to keep up and take care of all these families coming into our facility. This also meant that we had to quickly equip our staff with the appropriate protective gear, the supply of which became increasingly scarce as the days went by. As the situation evolved, we also had to continue adjusting our safety protocols to make sure that our employees would not be unnecessarily exposed to the disease. It was also important to us that we maintained our unique brand of service despite the many limitations that COVID-19 came with. It was difficult to do this when communities weren’t allowed to gather and celebrate the life of their loved one – it became increasingly difficult to tell the families that their way of mourning would now be limited because of this pandemic. Apart from this, our Arlington family was our main priority. We wanted to make sure that they had the support they needed to continue fulfilling their duties as death-care practitioners. We decided to book rooms for our staff-members in a hotel near our facility for their comfort and convenience. How do you spend your time outside of work? Is there anything in particular that you enjoy doing? I try to balance my time between work, my loved ones and being a champion for mental health. In 2018, I founded my own non-profit organization called Spring Philippines. Spring aims to create a safe space where mental health is no longer misunderstood or mistreated. So if I’m not at the office doing overtime, you’ll find me doing school and company tours, giving talks which I hope will normalize the conversation about mental health in the Philippines. Who or what inspires you? My parents have always been my standard of how one should live. They always strived to make this world a better place for everyone that they encountered. This has become my life’s mission as well – to do everything I possibly can to leave this world a better place. What is your favorite phone app? Instagram – I just love how dynamic this application has become. You can pretty much do everything on this application. Catch up with friends, online shop or even escape reality hahaha. What is one thing that you believe your peers would be surprised to know about you? Despite my knack for public speaking, I am 86% introverted on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I would choose to stay at home any day. Well, maybe not so much now because that’s all I’ve been doing for the past two months! Hahaha What is one thing that you think is just “golden” — really wonderful, exciting? Discovering really good music without even trying. I think that the power of music is so underrated. What do you value most about OGR? I feel really blessed to know that there is a community that will support me and the company I belong to, in whatever way they can. When you belong to an industry like ours, it’s very easy to feel isolated and to feel like nobody will understand what you’re going through – it’s very comforting for me to know that with OGR, we are not alone. The organization as a whole tries to “follow the Golden Rule.” What other words do you try to live by? Someone once told me that hard work means nothing without passion. While I’ve used that as a guide for all my endeavors, I realized that the piece of advice that should have been given to me was that hard work means nothing without compassion. I think that in everything I do, I have found that I find more fulfillment when I know what it means to me, but more so when I know it could mean something to somebody else. www.ogr.org | The Independent® 17
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