The Makabayan bloc led by House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro has refiled House Bill No. 5753 or the proposed Free and Discounted Funeral Services bill.

Castro said the bill seeks to respond to the needs of indigent citizens who find funeral services difficult and costly.

“Ang hirap na ngang mabuhay pati kapag namatay mahirap at magastos pa din (Life is hard to live, and yet even when you die, it's hard and expensive),” Castro said.

“This measure seeks to help our countrymen on this by providing immediate relief to the poor, especially during the loss of their loved ones.The bill, if enacted will provide free funeral services for extremely poor families by accredited mortuaries anywhere in the country,” the teacher solon stressed.

It was Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares who originally filed the measure during the 15th Congress, and he refiled it with fellow Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate in the 16th Congress.

The version of the bill was improved by a technical working group in the 17th Congress after it was refiled by Zarate. It was refiled in the 18th Congress as HB 5249 and was approved by the Committee on Poverty Alleviation.

Castro renewed her push for the bill in time for the country’s celebration of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Under the bill, the poor families who can avail of the benefit are those whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

It also covers those who cannot afford 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”.

Under the proposed law, the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) of every local government unit (LGU)—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,” she 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," she added

Castro said she hopes that the House leadership will expedite passage of the measure in order to help more poor people cope with the rising cost of funeral services.