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Nicomedes ?Jun? Cariño Jr. had been working as a caretaker of a private cemetery in Talisay City for about two years when he realized that his income was not enough to support a family of six and a wife.
To augment his earnings, Jun decided to go into simple landscaping of burial plots at the Cebu South Memorial Garden for a modest fee. This entails planting Bermuda grass on burial plots for P1,000 and maintaining it for P200 per month giving him an additional monthly income of P6,000.
Jun has been offering his services to plot owners at the cemetery since 2005 and he now maintains about 40 plots at the cemetery.
Prior to working at the cemetery, Jun and his wife Editha, who are from Sindangan in Zamboanga del Norte, used to farm their own land.
In 2000, Jun relocated his whole family to Cebu when some of their six children started going to the university here in Cebu City with the help of Editha?s sister.
He said he did not have any intention of transferring to Cebu. However, it came to pass when Editha insisted on visiting their children who were studying here.
?She (Editha) was not used to having our children away from us so she wanted to be near them,? Jun said in Cebuano.
When they got to Talisay City, Cebu where Editha?s sister lived, Jun got employed by a Chinese family, one of the owners of the cemetery, to do odd jobs in their various establishments.
A few months into the job, Jun decided not to go back anymore to his hometown and just stay in Cebu where he could earn on a monthly basis.
?In farming, you would have to wait three to four months to earn money. Here, you just work and you will earn on a weekly or monthly basis,? Jun said in Cebuano.
Jun was also fortunate that his employer built a house for them in a lot which his employer owned in barangay Biasong, Talisay.
In 2003, Jun was transferred by his employer to become the caretaker of the cemetery that he had recently opened.
As a caretaker, Jun earned P180 per day which only gave him a monthly net income of about P4,000.
With six children to feed and send to school despite the help of his sister-in-law, Jun said his salary was not enough.
In 2005, his employer ended the services of a man who did the landscaping of burial plots because of the steep price he was offering which was P2,500 per plot.
The owner then allowed Jun to take over the landscaping as his extra income but for a lower fee.
As the cemetery?s caretaker, Jun reports for work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a one hour lunch break. He takes Sundays off.
This means that Jun has to wake up early in the morning and do his extra job of landscaping from 6 a.m to 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
He said that when he first started landscaping, he used to charge only P80 to P100 for the monthly maintenance of the burial plots.
Despite having increased his fee to P200, Jun said that some of his customers especially the old ones ask him to lower his rate.
?I would agree to lower my fee because it doesn?t seem right to charge them a higher fee when they have lost a loved one,? Jun said in Cebuano.
With the extra income, Jun was able to provide a comfortable living for his family.
His eldest son is now an accountant and is teaching at the University of San Jose Recoletos, while studying law.
His second son, who graduated from a nautical course, has just boarded an international ship.
However, his four remaining children are still in high school and elementary.
