Benguet Cong. Eric Go Yap together with three other solons recently filed a house bill granting 50% percent discount from funeral services to indigent families.
Yap, together with Davao City’s first district Congressman Paolo Duterte and ACT – CIS law makers Edvic Yap and Jeffrey Soriano in their house bill will also grant free funeral services to extremely poor families nationwide.
The solons said the concept of family is central to Filipino culture and the death of a family member is
commemorated with the practice of certain death rituals and traditions.
“The funeral provides an opportunity for families to properly grieve the loss of their loved one. Further, it serves as an avenue for them to pay respect to and honor their relationship with the deceased,” added the solons.
In its explanatory note, for many poor families, death comes with debt as some argue that the cost of passing away is just as costly as living.
“Evidently, many poor families find paying for funerals difficult, even impossible for some. While they have to cope with grief and loss, they also struggle to find the means to pay for proper memorial services. The cost of funeral and burial services (usually starting from P10,000) burdens the family financially. In order to pay for proper memorial services, some are left with no choice but to borrow
money from lenders who sometimes take advantage of their grief and immediate need to put on high interest rates,” the bill explained.
Under the proposed house bill, it seeks to institutionalize the provision of burial assistance by granting a 50% discount from funeral services to indigent families and free funeral services to extremely poor families nationwide.
They can avail of the free or discounted funeral services upon submission of certificate of indigency, death certificate, and funeral contract between the beneficiary-family, the accredited mortuary, and the authorized Department of Social Welfare and Development personnel.
The funeral services will include the preparation of funeral documents, embalming, viewing, interment
or burial services, cremation and inurnment services, including the provision of a casket or urn, as the case maybe, offered by accredited mortuaries.