<P> It is socially acceptable for visitors to ask the bereaved questions deemed sensitive in other cultures . These include how the decedent died, if he or she suffered, or the cost of hospitalization or treatment . Such personal questions convey valid affection and concern for the deceased and the bereaved . Other people also customarily offer masses, novenas, and prayers for the benefit of the deceased . </P> <P> On the funeral day, the coffin is generally loaded into a hearse or borne by family members, relatives, or friends in procession towards the church and later the cemetery . Other mourners follow the hearse during the funeral march . Catholic funerals involve the celebration of the Mass, while Protestant funerals include singing of hymns and recitation of prayers by a minister . </P> <P> The traditional color worn at memorial services and interments is black, save for Chinese Filipinos and Ilocanos, who both customarily don white . If white clothing is worn, it is customary to have a small, rectangular black mourning pin on the left breast . Some funerals have men wear the Barong Tagalog and black trousers while sporting a black armband; as it is formal wear, traditionally acceptable colors include shades of white . Women are often dressed in either black or white, with those in more conservative areas also wear veils and headbands that match their dress . </P> <P> After the entombment, mourners offer prayers such as the rosary for the dead every evening for nine days, a custom called the pasiyam or pagsisiyam (literally, "that which is done for nine days"). This novena period often ends with a service followed by formal meal with family and close friends . The custom is base on the folk belief that the soul of the departed enters the spirit world on the ninth day following death . This is followed by a special prayer service or Mass on the fortieth day, when the soul is believed to end its earthly wandering and ascend to the afterlife, the time period evoking the days between Christ's Resurrection and Ascension . The bereavement period extends for a period of one year when another service is held on the first death anniversary, called the babang luksâ (lit., "descent from mourning"). </P>

What to wear to a funeral in the philippines
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