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By Prince Golez, Manila Reporter
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Thursday, March 16, 2017
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Workers drop the unclaimed body of an alleged extrajudicial killing victim into a mass grave in Manila, after health officials recovered the cadavers from an unaccredited funeral parlor. According to Sen. Risa Hontiveros unclaimed corpses continue to pile up in unsanitary and demeaning conditions, because of the exorbitant fees funeral parlors charge the families of EJK victims, posing serious risk to public health. AFP
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MANILA – Sen. Risa Hontiveros is calling for a legislative inquiry into the alleged exorbitant charges imposed by government-sanctioned funeral parlors on victims of extrajudicial killings.
Her office received reports that funeral homes accredited by the Philippine National Police – Scene of the Crime Operatives (PNP-SOCO) charge between P35,000 and P95,000.
The average cost of a funeral is only from P7,000 to P12,000, Hontiveros said.
“Twice the victim,” the senator from Panay Island said in filing Senate Resolution No. 325.
“There is an immediate need to impose proper penalties and/or halt the funeral parlors’ alleged unscrupulous practices, as well as determine if liability can be attached to the police officers in charge of their accreditation.”
According to her, unclaimed corpses continue to pile up in unsanitary and demeaning conditions, posing serious risk to public health.
About 250 bodies left unclaimed were recovered from a funeral home that had not complied with the government’s sanitation code and was operating without the required business permits for the last three years, shared Hontiveros.
“This is morally reprehensible. No one should charge exorbitant fees and rake in super profits from the suffering and tragedy of poor and helpless people, particularly those who were killed by extrajudicial killers,” she said.
“The victims of the families affected by these ruthless killings are already suffering from shock and trauma, yet they are made to deal with the stress of cobbling together the funds necessary to provide a decent burial for their loved ones.”/PN
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