CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine Mortuary Association (PMA) is calling on the government to take another look into the pending bill that aims to lift the standard of the country’s death care industry.
In support to the older batch of PMA leaders, a younger group co-headed by Kate Dychangco-Anzani is planning to work closely with lawmakers in a bid to make decent death care services affordable to majority of Filipinos, regardless of social status.
PMA, which is now headed by Anzani's father Renato Dychangco, had been advocating for a law in the country that will properly define the mortuary industry and its function in the community.
Anzani, whose family owns and operates the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes Inc., with 23 outlets of Memorial Chapels around the country, said the government's support in the death care industry is essential, not only to lift the standard but to make funeral or death care services not too much of a burden to families.
PMA, which has 420 members around the country already presented their appeal for proper government support including strict regulation for embalmers, subsidy to lower cost of funeral services, and other critical regulations.
However, Anzani said the group still has to push some more and lobby to lawmakers for a law that would help the growth of the industry, at the same time provide access to decent death care services to majority of Filipinos.
Dychangco, PMA president and chief executive officer of Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes, earlier said that the mortuary service in the country, which has not been considered as an industry, is slowly emerging as one of the key players in the health sector providing noble services in the proper, sanitary, and humane way of treating the departed.
House Bill 2983, authored by Alfredo Q.Vargas III, a bill prohibits the occurrence of holding hostage of cadaver of the departed.
According to Vargas, the high cost of funeral services in the country contribute to severe of economic hardships of some bereaved Filipino families. (FREEMAN)