The House Committee on Poverty Alleviation has passed a substitute bill seeking to grant a 50 percent discount on funeral services to indigent families and free funeral services to extremely poor families nationwide.
In a recent virtual meeting, the House panel, chaired by Caloocan City 1st District Rep. Dale “Along” Malapitan, approved an unnumbered bill, which substituted House Bill No. 5249, filed by Bayan Muna partylist Reps. Carlos Isagani Zarate, Eufemia Cullamat, and Ferdinand Gaite.
"In the Philippines, dying has become as costly as living itself. This is because most Filipinos already live lives of utter poverty and still die poor and indebted till the end. Funeral services generally are expensive, a stark and difficult reality confronting the large majority of impoverished Filipinos,” the Makabayan lawmakers said.
They said the measure seeks to provide immediate relief to the poor, especially during the loss of their loved ones.
The substitute bill, to be known as "Free and Discounted Funeral Services Act” provides free funeral services for extremely poor families by accredited mortuaries anywhere in the country.
The measure defines “poor” as those families whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and/or who cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing or other essential amenities of life, as defined under Republic Act No. 8425, the “Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act”.
It provides that the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) established under Republic Act No. 11315 of the local government unit, with the supervision of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), shall be used to determine the degree of indigency of the family, whether indigent or extremely poor.
Under the measure, free funeral services shall be given to only one family member per month per mortuary branch, provided that it does not exceed the cost of the mortuary's minimum funeral service package.
The grant of free funeral services under the proposed Act is without prejudice to the right of the beneficiary to avail of upgraded funeral services given by the mortuary and the difference in cost shall be borne by the family of the deceased, the bill provides.
The bill also grants a 50 percent discount on funeral services to indigent families by mortuaries anywhere in the country, but would only be applicable to At-Need funeral services only.
Before an indigent or extremely poor family can avail of the free or discounted funeral services, the following documents shall be submitted: certificate of indigency issued by the barangay or the local social welfare office of the local government unit (LGU), stating whether the family is either indigent or extremely poor; death certificate; and funeral contract between the beneficiary-family, the accredited mortuary and the authorized personnel of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The certification shall not be a requirement before any member of the family of the deceased could avail of the services of the mortuary, the measure said.
According to the bill, mortuaries granting discounted or free services to indigent or extremely poor beneficiaries may seek reimbursement for the cost of the services from any regional office of the DSWD upon the approval of the Regional Director.
"The reimbursement will be based on the stipulations of the signed contract between the poor family, the mortuary, and the authorized DSWD personnel," it said.
The bill tasks the DSWD to be the lead implementing arm of the proposed Act. The DSWD is mandated to engage the funeral services of mortuaries in the country.
Under the measure, the local government units are enjoined to fulfill their devolved function as mandated by Republic Act No. 7160, the Local Government Code, and Presidential Decree No. 856, the Sanitation Code, in providing assistance to indigent and extremely poor families in their respective areas at their own expense.
"The LGUs will waive fees and charges which include burial or interment permit, cremation permit, transfer permit, disinterment permit, and cost of death certificate,” it said.
The bill provides that the amount necessary to implement the provisions of the proposed Act shall be charged against the allocation in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of the DSWD.
It provides that within six months from the effectivity of the proposed Act, the Secretary of the DSWD, in coordination with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine Mortuary Association, with the participation of local government units, is tasked to promulgate its implementing rules and regulations.