House Deputy Minority leader and Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate has called for the passage of House Bill 5249 or Free Funeral Services for Indigent Families on Sunday, October 31.

Zarate lamented that HB 5249 is still pending at the House Appropriations Committee although the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation has passed the said measure more than a year ago "to help alleviate the plight of our poor people."

"Dahil sa dinadaanang pandemya ng ating mga kababayan ngayon na mahigit 40,000 na ang namatay sa COVID-19 alone, talagang urgent na din na maipasa ang panukalang batas na ito (Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed over 40,000 of our countrymen, it is urgent that we pass the House bill now)," the Davao-based solon said.

"Katunayan nagtataasan pa nga ang singil ng mga punerarya sa mga namatayan nating kababayan sa COVID-19 at iba pang sakit. Sa panahong ito ng undas, dapat maisip at mabigyan ng kagyat na pansin ito ng Kongreso at ng maibigay na ang kaunting tulong na ito sa mga mahihirap nating kababayan na nawalan ng mahal sa buhay (It's a fact that funeral prices have gone up for our grieving compatriots whose loved ones died from COVID-19 and other diseases. This All Saints' Day, we have to think and give notice to it in Congress and give a little help to our poor countrymen who have lost their loved ones)."

In September last year, the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation chaired by Caloocan City Rep. Dale Malapitan, approved an unnumbered bill, which substituted House Bill No. 5249, filed by Zarate and fellow Bayan Muna partylist representatives Eufemia Cullamat and Ferdinand Gaite.

"The committee 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," Zarate said.

"In the Philippines, dying has become as costly as living itself, especially now under the current crisis aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 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," Zarate added.

The House measure defines “poor” as those families whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). It also includes those 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 or the “Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act”.

The bill provides that the Community-Based Monitoring System established under RA 11315 of the local government unit, with the supervision of the Philippine Statistics Authority, 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 Makabayan bloc leader said.

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.

"We trust that the Appropriations Committee can soon hear the measure and approve it soon as well to help our poor people cope with the rising cost of funeral services," Zarate said. (Melvin Sarangay)