Bayan Muna proposes free funeral services for ‘extremely poor’ families

Bayan Muna called for the fast-tracking of a bill aimed at giving substantial discounts for funeral services for the poor.

As high inflation rates affect even the dead, House Bill 3028 should be immediately passed to give indigent families a 50 percent discount in funeral services, Bayan Muna explained.

Authored by Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate, the proposed measure aims to alleviate the rising costs of services due to the Rodrigo Duterte government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, the group added.

Hindi lang mga buhay ang nasasagasaan ng TRAIN, pero pati mga patay na rin. Sa minimum ay tumaas ng P1,000 ang funeral services sa ngayon, hindi pa kasama dito ang kabaong, lupa sa sementeryo at mismong pagpapalibing,” Zarate said.

“Our bill also mandates that dead persons belonging to ‘extremely poor’ families should be given free funeral services,” he added.

The government announced that inflation rates in the third quarter of the year has risen to more than six percent, driving prices of goods and services higher.

Bayan Muna said the House of Representatives shall tackle the proposed measure when it resumes its session this month.

“We hope that the House leaders would also fast track the bill’s passage so that poor families would not have to shell out more just to bury their loved ones. They are already grieving from their lost, it is doubly tragic that they should also be burdened to bury their dead,” Zarate said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)