POOR families will soon have guaranteed access to affordable caskets and funeral services for their departed loved ones as House Bill No. 102 authored and sponsored by Deputy Speaker Congressman Duke Frasco passed deliberations in the Committee on Trade and Industry at the House of Representatives.
Under Frasco’s House Bill (HB) No. 102 or the proposed “Affordable Casket Act”, all funeral establishments shall always maintain the availability of decent caskets that would cost not more than P20,000. The scope of the Bill was further expanded during the Committee deliberations with the P20,000 cap now to include not only caskets but also funeral expenses.
“In the Philippines, the cost of dying has become a burden akin to the challenges of living. Many Filipinos are born in poverty, and unfortunately, they often pass away in similar circumstances. With steep funeral and burial costs, one can only imagine the painful experience that grief-stricken Filipino families go through when facing not only the loss of their loved ones, but also the financial burden brought about by high-costs funeral expenses,” Frasco said in his sponsorship speech.
The price of caskets ranges from P5,000 to P110,000, with the availability of lower priced caskets often limited and even unavailable in most funeral parlors. Funeral expenses further compound soaring costs of dying in the country.
With Frasco’s “Affordable Caskets Act”, if there is no affordable casket available and the deceased is indigent or extremely poor as duly certified by a Barangay Chairman or a social worker, the funeral establishment shall be obliged to offer a casket of any higher value, but the price to be paid shall still not exceed P20,000 to include funeral expenses.
Under the proposed measure, Funeral parlors found in violation will face fines ranging from P200,000 to P400,000, or the revocation of their business permits or related licenses.
Being a former Mayor of Liloan town in the Province of Cebu, Frasco said he had seen first hand the financial burden a poor and indigent family would face after losing a loved one with mounting funeral expenses often leading to families not only suffering grief but also indebtedness.
“Regulating the sale of caskets and funeral expenses will greatly relieve grief-stricken families of the added financial burden, and preserve the human dignity of our fellow Filipinos, both in life and in death,” added Frasco.
During the House Committee hearing attended by Representatives as well as stakeholders from the funeral services industry, Representatives agreed that the Bill would be expanded in scope to include all funeral services, and not just the cost of caskets. Once passed into law, the measure is seen to provide social protections to the poorest of the poor and reduce the impact of poverty incidence amidst the current high costs of funerals and caskets.
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