Frasco to file bill to make caskets affordable

FRASCO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu Fifth District Representative Duke Frasco is seeking to lower the cost of burials in the country by making caskets or coffins affordable to the public.

According to a press release sent to members of the media on Wednesday, October 7, 2020, the congressman will file a bill in Congress that will regulate the price of caskets in funeral parlors so that each parlor should have affordable caskets available for the poorest families.

“It is an unfortunate fact that the cost of dying in the Philippines is unconscionably high, higher in fact than the cost of living for low-income Filipino families. The burden is felt even more painfully when the head of the household or breadwinner dies, leaving the surviving family in debt,” said Frasco in the PR.

Serving three terms as mayor of Liloan town in northern Cebu town prior to taking a seat in Congress, Frasco said he is aware of the struggles of ordinary people providing a decent burial for their loved ones.

The price of caskets ranges from P5,000 to P300,000. The ones that are priced low are also of limited availability in most funeral parlors.

“In general, funeral services are expensive, a stark and difficult reality confronting the large majority of impoverished Filipinos. In particular,  the price of most caskets has become unconscionably high, which is beyond the paying capacity of the family of the deceased,” explained Frasco.

If approved, the bill will make sure that decent and affordable caskets are available all the time at funeral establishments as an option for poor and indigent families at a price of not more than P12,000.

In the event that there is no affordable casket available and the deceased is indigent, the funeral establishment shall be obliged to offer a casket of any higher value, but the price to be paid shall still not exceed P12,000.

Should the proposal be made into law, a penalty will be imposed on erring funeral parlors, with fines ranging from P200,000 to P400,000, or the revocation of their business permits or related licenses.

“Regulating the sale of caskets 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,” said the congressman.

/bmjo