Investing in memorial lots is often overlooked as Filipinos don't see the need for it until the time comes.

But, in this day and age, it is wise to start preparing for the worst.

Golden Haven Memorial Parks, a member of the Villar Group of Companies, is one of the largest real estate companies in the Philippines in terms of market capitalization. The developer is a subsidiary of Golden MV Holdings, Inc., a company that engages in the development and sale of memorial lots. It also develops, constructs and operates columbarium facilities.

Iris Contreras Guazon, sales and marketing head of Golden Haven Memorial, graced Daily Tribune's online morning show Gising Na! to talk about the importance of investing in memorial services and its benefits.

Daily Tribune (DT): What's the importance of investing in memorial services for an ordinary citizen?
Iris Contreras Guazon (ICG): Most Filipinos don't talk about it when offered, for example, the likes of St. Peter. But for the past two years since the onset of the Covid pandemic, I think we realized that the end of life preparation is actually very important. At Golden Haven, we pride ourselves as the developer of the most beautiful memorial park in the country. Having a Golden Haven lot can also be an investment just like any other memorial properties.

DT: How's the spike of the volume of sales pre-pandemic and during the pandemic?
ICG: I'm speaking for our Las Piñas branch. Before we had a prematorium and the columbarium. Filipinos prefer loan lots as compared to the columbarium units. But, since the pandemic, we all realized that it is more affordable if clients avail of cremation and columbarium.

DT: How do we avail of your investment opportunities? What kinds of investment do you offer?
ICG: The most common are the loan lots. We also have garden niches, family estates and 'yung puwedeng pagtayuan ng mosuleo. We also  have an ossuary and, of course, we have columbarium volts.
Investing is very easy. You just have to fill out a reservation form and customer information sheet.  Submit one valid ID with three specimen signatures. You can pay via Gcash on our or via bills payment through mobile banking apps.

DT: What are the price range and payment terms?
ICG: We have very flexible payment terms. Our price range is based on the location because we are actually present from Luzon, Visayas, to Mindanao.
Here in Las Piñas, the price range for a family estate is around P6.5 million and then the columbarium volts start at P230,000. But again we have very flexible payment schemes, your downpayment can get up to 15 months then you can pay the balance of 80 percent for as long as five years so roughly that's P2,000 to P3,000 monthly.

DT: What if I suddenly passed and I'm not finished with the payment, is that considered as full payment?
ICG: Yes, we do that. As long as the payment is updated and there are no arrears, you're covered by the insurance already. Your family won't have to think about anything else if that happens.