HOUSE Bill No. 102, also known as the “Affordable Casket Act,” which is authored by House Deputy Speaker and Cebu fifth district Representative Duke Frasco has got the nod of the House’s Committee on Trade and Industry.
The lawmaker wants the underprivileged to be able to buy cheap coffins and funeral services for their departed loved ones.
Under the bill, funeral homes must have available decent coffins that do not cost more than P20,000.
During the committee’s deliberation, the aforementioned law was expanded, and it is hoped that funeral services will be included in the P20,000.
"Being a former mayor of Liloan, Cebu, I have 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," Frasco said.
"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," he added.
Currently, the prices of coffins in funeral parlors in the country range from P5,000 to P110,000.
The project's beneficiaries are those who have been identified as impoverished by the social worker or the barangay captain. (ANV, TPT)