Bayan Muna Reps. Teddy Casiño and Neri Colmenares are urging the Committee on Poverty Alleviation to fast track the approval of House Bill 4002 granting 50% discount for funeral services for poor families nationwide.
According to the two solons, “In the Philippines, dying has become as costly as living itself. This is because most Filipinos already live lives of utter poverty and still die poor and indebted till the end. Funeral services generally are expensive, a stark and difficult reality confronting the large majority of impoverished Filipinos,”
Death to one’s family member becomes doubly tragic for those who earn a measly P362.00 a day (in the National Capital Region). According to the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) of the National Statistics Office, 80 percent of Filipino families are struggling to survive on P284.33 ($6.428) a day, with the poorest 10 percent having incomes of only P90.00 ($2.03) a day. With an average family size of five, these figures translate to 68.2 million Filipinos subsisting on P56.87 ($1.285) a day. This wage structure and economic data demonstrate that our people can neither sustain their daily needs let alone be able to shoulder the funeral expenses of their departed loved ones.
It is the duty of the State to provide for the welfare and security of its citizens. This measure aims to provide immediate relief to the poor, especially during the loss of their loved ones.
