CAGAYAN de Oro Second District Representative Rufus Rodriguez wants the National Government to shoulder the burial cost of patients who die of coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Rodriguez made the statement after watching on television "a pitiful sight of widows of Covid-19 walking long distances from the city hall to the civil registry to the crematorium/burial site to attend to their dead."
"We should spare them such pain and agony. That is adding insult to injury, since they have already lost their loved ones to this deadly virus," Rodriguez said.
He said the National Government, through the Department of Health (DOH), "should pay for all the burial expenses of all Covid-19 patients on a reimbursement scheme where the local government units (LGUs) will first respond to the burial needs from the hospital to the funeral parlor/crematorium to the burial site."
Rodriguez said all expenses of the LGU should be reimbursed by the DOH.
The Kagay-anon lawmaker proposed that LGUs should create "fully protected teams to take care of cremation and other burial arrangements."
"We should discourage relatives from directly participating in these arrangements for their own protection and safety, as they would be exposed to the virus," Rodriguez said.
He added the Muslim tradition of burying their dead within 24 hours should be followed.