Nicolas T. Uy de Baron, columbary park founder

Turning an impossible idea into practical reality

By: Cesar E. Tordesillas

A landmark in San Mateo, Rizal, in the form of a memorial ecological park master-planned to blend with a Roman Catholic church and a Taoist temple amid the expanse of the sloping mountains of San Mateo, is nearing completion. Called The Columbary of the Divine Mercy, the park overlooks San Mateo and Metro Manila and will surround a 100-foot- tall Divine Mercy Shrine. It will be created into a one-of-a-kind tourist spot that can help develop the town of San Mateo.

It has a big aviary for more than thousands of lovebirds, sizable lagoons for goldfishes, a nursery haven of multicolored butterflies, a large dove yard, several hanging bridges, tramcars and cable cars to connect the mountainside of the 24-hectare land. The park will also have several multipurpose halls, function rooms, restaurants, kiosks, minishops and ample parking space. The idea of building a Roman Catholic church and a Chinese Taoist temple was a dream Nicolas T. Uy de Baron, founder and chief development officer of Columbary of the Divine Mercy Shrine. De Baron had dreamed of leaving a great legacy to his children and the future generations of his family. It all started in 1996 with an investment in a real-estate property, a mountain in San Mateo. A group of businessman headed by de Baron invested in this property with a plan to develop a residential subdivision with an academic school. But in July 1997 during the Asian economic crisis, everybody lost interest and abandoned the idea and the property altogether.

In August of 2003 de Baron revisited the site to see its improvement because the government had built a wide road that cut through the property. On seeing the place again, he was very impressed. He went to see the parish priest of San Mateo, Msgr. Mariano Balbago Jr. The monsignor led de Baron to a makeshift chapel named Divine Mercy Chapel. Immediately de Baron thought of building a church.

“That same day, I prayed and God gave me an answer! I had to do something with the property, so the idea of building a Roman Catholic church and a Chinese Taoist temple with a columbary and tourist park was born,” de Baron said. “It all started with a dream. Today it is a reality and soon it will be a legacy.”

But planning a massive project would not have been possible without de Baron’s vast experience in finance and insurance. “The amenities are expensive,” he explains. “In fact, 70 percent of the costs are devoted to tourist amenities and the churches.”

The Roman Catholic church already costs P130 million. The Statue of Jesus Christ will require P80 million. A cable car, one of the attractions at the columbary, costs P50 million. Add the fact that there will also be a Taoist temple and statue that could jack up costs to another 210 million with a Buddhist temple and statue also under consideration.De Baron revealed that the whole project will come up to P2 billion.

It was de Baron’s background that helped him immediately ascertain the financial viability of the project and led him to realize this grand dream.

From August 2001 until 2003, De Baron was the senior vice president of the general agency of John Hancock Life Insurance Agency, where he was directly responsible to the company president in the creation, formation and development of general agencies in the Philippines.

He was also the former president of Baron Life Insurance Agency (BLIA), a general agent of the Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd.

BLIA was the number one agency of Insular Life from 1997 to 2000. He was also the recipient of the highest award GAMAs confers—the National Management Award—Platinum Award in 2000. He also received GAMA’s Gold Award in 1999—then the highest award conferred by GAMA.

During his stint in the insurance field, de Baron recruited and developed more than 100 full-time working agents. He was also a five-time qualifier of the Million-Dollar Round Table (MDRT, a premier association of salespeople in finance), “Top of the Table” and a 10-consecutive-time qualifier of the MDRT “Court of the Table.” He is also an MDRT life member. He was also a Life Underwriter of the Year for 10 consecutive years.

De Baron’s family has also joined him in the columbary and insurance and financial services businesses.

His wife, Mercedita Merillo Uy de Baron, is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Columbary of the Divine Mercy Shrine and the chairman of the Baron Group.

At the Baron Group Life and Nonlife Financial Services are first son Harvie, the chief executive officer and an MDRT “Top of the Table” qualifier, and second son Hoover, the president and chief operating officer.

At the columbary project are fourth son Harvard, the chief marketing officer and president of the marketing company Divine Mercy Marketing, and fifth son Herald, the chief operating officer and president of the development company.

Another son, Him, is an executive chef of the Rustans Group’s East Café. He was also involved in the family insurance business. A daughter, Happy, is also expected to help in the family businesses.

Now 58, de Baron hopes that the columbary that he wants to complete in five years and which he calls his retirement project will be the kind of concept that paves the way to a more practical and cheaper alternative to memorial services.

A home for our departed loved ones, up in the mountains, closer to God

ONE of the major developments at the mountains of San Mateo is the Columbary of the Divine Mercy Shrine.

The concept is unique and considered the first of its kind in the country. Columbary vaults (depository of urns for cremated remains) are being built following the terrain of the mountain, surrounded by lush greenery, mountain slopes and cool fresh air. The columbary vaults are situated in a garden with blue grass and picnic area. It is now fully operational with 7,000 units currently available for use with considerable tourist amenities.

On this project will also stand a beautiful and magnificent 1,000-seating capacity Roman Catholic Church named The Divine Mercy Shrine, now under construction. The shrine will be built by Divine Mercy Shrine Development Corporation and will be turned over to the Diocese of Antipolo through Monsignor

Mariano T. Balbago, Jr. of the Shrine of Our Lady of Aranzazu, San Mateo. It is overlooking the San Mateo town and Metro Manila. A 120-foot statue of the Divine Mercy will also rise on the mountain and will be one awesome attraction. A pilgrimage is proposed to commence as soon as it is finished. It will be well lighted and can be seen from as far as Metro Manila.

The Officers and Staff of Divine Mercy Shrine Development Corporation, led by its Founder & Chief Development Officer, Nick Uy de Baron, together with its Master Planner, R.S. Licup Design Group assure the public, as well as local and foreign visitors, that the highest standards of safety and convenience are strictly applied.

We invite you to come and visit the site. Open everyday, it is a mere 7-minute drive

Road, San Mateo, Rizal. Please refer to the vicinity map in the ad for further directions. As you enter the site, you will be enthralled by the beauty and serenity of the place. You will immediately notice the facade leading to the model units area. The granite tiles are multi colored. Today, the area has a big water fountain, aviary, fish ponds, a mini park with cabanas and dove yard, lagoon with waterfalls and fishing area. A Multi Purpose Hall that serves as our Customer Service Office, is also available for use by the families of our departed loved ones for mass or a simple get-together. It is now situated on top of a hill right beside the very beautiful landscaped lagoon.

For Interested marketing partners,

The Columbary of the Divine Mercy Shrine

By: Cesar E. Tordesillas

When conversations turn to the topic of columbarium—the depository of urns containing ashes of cremated bodies—it naturally evolve to the topic of acceptability of cremation. The questions are: Are you willing to subject to the process of cremation once you die? What about your dearly departed?

While there are still people who have not braced the concept of having to reduce the remains of their love ones or themselves once they die into ashes, the idea is now slowly sinking in the consciousness of many Filipinos partly due to necessity brought about by the escalating cost of traditional burial.

A traditional memorial lot costs P120,000 and commands an interment fee of P20,000 while a columbary vault only costs P46,800 and requires an interment fee of only P2,500.

Cremation is also getting acceptance as the more dignified method of bringing our beloved departed to rest. Deep within us, we are often bothered about how our remains will be handled once our more immediate descendants, those who bother to visit our burial sites, have passed away themselves.

“In fact 70 percent of the people in Metro Manila are now choosing cremation for themselves or their loved ones,” says Nick Uy De Baron, founder and chief development officer of the Columbary of the Divine Mercy Shrine (CDMS). “If you visit crematories you’ll be surprised that they’re fully booked.”

To provide every Filipino with the most extraordinary and economical memorial services package with a columbarium that has a tourist park and churches is the objective of CDMS. De Baron wishes to eventually develop the CDMS into the largest and most valued memorial services provider in the Philippines.

“This one of a kind concept paves way to a more practical and more affordable alternative for memorial services. There would be no more costly memorial lots. Eventually, Columbary of the Divine Mercy Shrine hopes to educate as many Filipinos on a new process of leaving their loved ones behind,” De Baron added.

Even in places accessible to Metro Manila residents where there are affordable lands to accommodate cemeteries such as Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan and Rizal provinces, there is now a growing opposition from the residents against the putting up of cemeteries because of hygiene considerations.

Cremation, being the cleanest process in managing the bodies of the departed since it speeds up the natural process of decomposition, and the columbarium, are the solutions to this problem.

The body and container are almost completely consumed in cremation. The cremated remains consist of bone fragments and particles, which usually weigh from 4 to 8 pounds (1.8 to 3.6 kg). They are then finely ground into granule form and deposited into urns.

The urns at the CDMS may also be borrowed and taken home during special occasions provided that a letter of request from the columbary owner or the legal heirs is submitted three working days prior to it.

“The Columbary is very clean since there are no dead bodies,” says De Baron. “It is also a pleasant experience for the living to visit their loved ones in the Columbary because unlike a cemetery, it is well-lighted, provides fresh air with many tourist amenities.”

De Baron, who went to China to study the nitty-gritty of running a columbary, affirmed that our neighboring countries like China, Hong Kong and Singapore are already into cremation. “China is almost 100 percent into cremation. There are no more cemeteries there except for top officials of the country,” De Baron narrated what he found out during his trip.

The Columbary will host a beautiful one thousand sitting capacity Roman Catholic Church named Divine Mercy Shrine, over looking San Mateo town and the Metro Manila view. A tourist park in the CDMS will be built surrounding a 100 - foot tall Divine Mercy Shrine. A Chinese Taoist Temple with a corresponding 100 – feet statues of Giok Hong Sam Thay Zhi is also in the works. A worship area for Buddhists is also under consideration.

The CDMS is well lighted, can be seen far away from Metro Manila. The members of this noble project have planned to create one of a kind tourist spot, aside from its columbary facility, which will develop the Municipality of San Mateo, Rizal as a whole. This project accords the highest standard of safety to its local visitors and foreign tourists as they take part in this Church's unique concept. The tourist park has a big aviary for more than thousands of love birds, sizable lagoons for gold fishes, a nursery haven of multicolored butterflies, a large dove yard, several hanging bridges, tramcars, and cable cars to connect the mountainside of the 24-hectare land. The park will also have several multipurpose halls, function rooms, restaurants, kiosks, mini shops and ample parking space.

“There are public places in the columbary where visitors can visit any time such as the church but there will also be areas requiring maintenance such as the aviary and the statues where we will charge entrance fees,” De Baron explained. “Of course, there are places not accessible to ordinary tourist such as the columbary section unless they are accompanied by the owners or by the marketing staff.”

During this year’s holy week, Monsignor Mariano Balbago Jr. will conduct the last station of the cross at the CDMS and De Baron invites the faithful to join in remembering the creator in this homage. A clear example of how CDMS doubles up as place of interaction among the living as it serves as a final resting place for the departed.