Definition.
SEC. 89. Definition.—As used in this
Chapter, the following terms shall mean:
Burial grounds—cemetery, memorial park of any place duly
authorized by law for permanent disposal of the dead.
Embalming—preparing, disinfecting and preserving a dead body
for its final disposal.
Embalmer—a person who practices embalming.
Undertaking—the care, transport and disposal of the body of a
deceased person by any means other than embalming.
Undertaker—person who practices undertaking.
Funeral establishment—any place used in the preparation and care
of the body of a deceased person for burial.
Remains—the body of a dead person.
Burial—Interment of remains in a grave, tomb or the sea.
Disinterment—the removal or exhumation of remains from places of
interment.
Burial Grounds Requirements.
SEC. 90. Burial Grounds Requirements.—the following
requirements shall be applied and enforced:
It shall be unlawful for any person to bury remains in places
other than those legally authorized in conformity with the provisions of
this Chapter.
A burial ground shall at least be 25 meters distant from any
dwelling house and no house shall be constructed within the same
distance from any burial ground.
No burial ground shall be located within 50 meters from either
side of a river or within 50 meters from any source of water supply.
Burial Requirements.
SEC. 91. Burial Requirements.—The burial of remains
is subject to the following requirements:
No remains shall be buried without a dead certificate. This
certificate shall be issued by the attending physician. If there
has been no physician in attendance, it shall be issued by the mayor,
the secretary of the municipal board, or a councilor of the municipality
where the death occurred. The death certificate shall be forwarded
to the local civil register within 48 hours after death.
Shipment of remains abroad shall be governed by the rules
and regulations of the Bureau of Quarantine.
Graves where remains are buried shall be at least one and
one-half meters deep and filled well and firmly.
The cost of burial of a dead person shall be borne by the nearest
kin. If the kin is not financially capable of defraying the expenses
or if the de ceased had no kin, the cost shall be borne by the city or
municipal government.
The burial of remains in city or municipal burial grounds shall
not be prohibited on account of race, nationality, religion
or political persuasion.
If the person who issues a death certificate has reasons to
believe or suspect that the cause of death was due to violence or
crime, he shall notify immediately the local authorities
concerned. In this case the deceased shall not be buried until a
permission is obtained from the provincial or city fiscal. If these
officials are not available the permission shall be obtained from any
government official authorized by law.
Except when required by legal investigation or when permitted
by the local health authority, no unembalmed remains shall remain
unburied longer than 48 hours after death.
When the cause of death is a dangerous communicable disease, the
remains shall be buried within 12 hours after death. They shall not
be taken to any place of public assembly. Only the adult
members of the family of the deceased may be permitted to attend the
funeral.
Disinterment Requirements.
SEC. 92. Disinterment Requirements.—Disinterment of
remains is subject to the following requirements:
Permission to disinter remains of persons who died of
non-dangerous communicable diseases may be granted after a burial
period of three years.
Permission to disinter remains of persons who died of
dangerous communicable diseases may be granted after a burial period of
five years.
Disinterment of remains covered in paragraphs "a" and "b" of this
Section may be permitted within a shorter time than that prescribed
in special cases, subject to the approval of the Regional
Director concerned or his duly authorized representative.
In all cases of disinterment, the remains shall be disinfected
and placed in a durable and sealed container prior to their
final disposal.
Funeral and Embalming Establishments.
SEC. 93. Funeral and Embalming Establishments.—
These establishments are subject to the following requirements:
Scope of inclusion—for the purposes of this Section,
requirements prescribed herein shall be applied and enforced
to funeral chapels, embalming establishments and morgues.
Sanitary permit—No establishment mentioned in the preceding
paragraph shall be operated with out a sanitary permit issued by the
Secretary or his duly authorized representative. This permit
shall be revoked in case of any violation of the provisions of this
Chapter and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
Classification—Funeral establishment shall be
classified in three (3) categories which are described as follows:
Category I.—Establishments with chapels, and embalming
facilities and offering funeral services.
Category II.—Establishments with chapels and offering
funeral services but without embalming facilities.
Category III.—Establishments offering only funeral
services from the house of the deceased to the burial ground.
Sanitary requirements—
For funeral chapels.—The requirements prescribed for places of
public assembly in this Code shall be applied.
For embalming and dressing rooms.—
They should be constructed of concrete or semi- concrete
materials with sufficient space to accommodate five bodies at
one time.
The floors and walls shall be made of concrete or other
durable impervious materials.
Ventilation and lighting should be adequately provided.
Embalming shall be performed on a table made of a single marble
slab or other equally impervious materials. It shall be so constructed
that all washings and body fluids shall flow to a drain connected to the
waste piping system of the building.
Embalming and assistants shall use rubber gloves
when working.
Washing facilities with soaps, detergents and germicidal
solutions shall be provided for use of the working personnel.
Licensing and Registration Procedures.
SEC. 94. Licensing and Registration Procedures.—The
licensing and registration of undertakers and embalmers are subject to
the following requirements:
Issuance of license to practice—
Any person who desires to practice undertaking or embalming
shall be licensed to practice only after passing an examination
conducted by the Department.
Licensed undertakers or embalmers shall practice undertaking
or embalming in accordance with requirements prescribed by the
Department
Licensed undertakers or embalmers shall display their
licenses conspicuously in the establishments where they work.
Issuance of certificates of registration—
An undertaker or embalmer shall apply annually for a
registration certificates and pay an annual registration fee of
twenty-five pesos to the Regional Health Office concerned.
The first registration certificate issued shall
cover the period from the date of issuance to the last day of
the current year. Subsequent certificates shall bear the date of
January 1 of the year of issue and shall expire December 31 of the same
year.
Certificates of registration shall be posed conspicuously in
establishments concerned.
Exemption—Government and private physicians may perform
embalming without license and registration certificates as exigencies
require.
Autopsy and Dissection of Remains.
SEC. 95. Autopsy and Dissection of Remains.—The
autopsy and dissections of remains are subject to the following
requirements:
Persons authorized to perform these are:
Health officers;
Medical officers of law enforcement agencies; and
Members of the medical staff of accredited
hospitals.
Autopsies shall be performed in the following cases:
Whenever required by special laws;
Upon orders of a competent court, a mayor and a provincial
or city fiscal;
Upon written request of police authorities;
Whenever the Solicitor General, provincial or city fiscal as
authorized by existing laws, shall deem it necessary to disinter and
take possession of remains for examination to determine the cause of
death; and
Whenever the nearest kin shall request in writing
the authorities concerned to ascertain the cause of death.
Autopsies may be performed on patients who die in accredited
hospitals subject to the following requirements:
The Director of the hospital shall notify the next of kin
of the death of the deceased and request permission to perform an
autopsy.
Autopsy can be performed when the permission is granted or no
objection is raised to such autopsy within 48 hours after death.
In cases where the deceased has no next of kin, the
permission shall be secured from the local health authority.
Burial of remains after autopsy—After an autopsy, the remains
shall be interred in accordance with the provisions in this Chapter.
Donation of Human Organs for Medical, Surgical and Scientific purposes.
SEC. 96. Donation of Human Organs for Medical, Surgical
and Scientific purposes.—Any person may donate an organ or any part
of his body to a person, a physician, a scientist, a hospital or a
scientific institution upon his death for transplant, medical, or
research purposes subject to the following requirements:
The donation shall authorized in writing by the donor specifying
the recipient, the organ or part of his body to be donated and the
specific purpose for which it will be utilized.
A married person may make such donation with out the consent of
his spouse.
After the death of a person the next of kin may authorize the
donation of an organ or any part of the body of the deceased for similar
purposes in accordance with the prescribed procedure.
If the deceased has no next of kin and his remains are in the
custody of an accredited hospitals, the Director of the Hospital may
donate an organ or any part of the body of the deceased in accordance
with the requirement prescribed in this Section.
A simple written authorization signed by the donor in the
presence of two witnesses shall be deemed sufficient for the donation of
organs or parts of the human body required in this Section,
notwithstanding the provisions of the Civil Code of the Philippines on
matters of donation. A copy of the written authorization shall
be forwarded to the Secretary.
Any authorization granted in accordance with the requirements
of this Section is binding to the executors, administrators,
and members of the family of the deceased.
Use of Remains for Medical Studies and Scientific Research.
SEC. 97. Use of Remains for Medical Studies and
Scientific Research.—Unclaimed remains may be used by medical
schools and scientific institutions for studies and research subject to
the rules and regulations prescribed by the Department.
SEC.
98. Special Precautions for Safe Handling of Cadavers Containing
Radioactive Isotopes.—
Cadavers containing only traces (very small dose) of
radioactive isotope do not require any special handling precautions.
Cadavers containing large amounts of radioactive isotopes should
be labeled properly identifying the type and amount of radioactive
isotopes present and the date of its administration.
Before autopsy is performed, the Radiation Health Officer or his
duly authorized representative should be notified for proper
advice. The pathologist and/or embalmer should be warned accordingly
of the radioactivity of the cadaver so that radiation precautions can
be properly enforced.
Normal burial procedures, rules and regulations may be
carried out on the above mentioned cadavers provided that their amount
of radioactivity has decayed to a safe level which will be determined
by the Radiation Health Officer or his authorized
representative.
Cremation—If cremation is performed without autopsy,
there is no handling problem; other wise, autopsy precautions
should be strictly enforced. Precautions should be taken to
prevent any possible concentration of radioactivity at the base of the
stack of the crematorium.
Responsibility of the Regional Director.
SEC. 99. Responsibility of the Regional Director.—The
Regional Director shall:
Act on applications for the establishment of burial grounds; and
Close any burial ground which is a menace to public health.
Responsibility of the Local Health Authority.
SEC. 100. Responsibility of the Local Health
Authority.—The local health authority shall:
Administer city or municipal cemeteries;
Issue permits to inter, disinter or transfer remains;
Apply prescribed measures when cause of death is due to a
dangerous communicable disease.
Keep records of death occurring within his area of jurisdiction;
and
Authorize the delivery of unclaimed remains to medical
schools and scientific institutions for purposes specified in this
Chapter and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the
Department.
Responsibility of Local Government.
SEC. 101. Responsibility of Local Government.—Local
governments shall:
Reserve appropriate tracts of land under their jurisdiction,
for cemeteries subject to approval of Regional Directors concerned;
Utilize judiciously grants, gifts, bequests of property or
financial donations for the establishment or improvement of cemeteries;
and
Close cemeteries under their jurisdiction subject to approval of
the Regional Director.
Penal Provisions.
SEC. 102. Penal Provisions.—
The Secretary or his duly authorized representative may revoke
or suspend the license of an undertaker or embalmer who violates any
provisions of this Chapter or the rules and regulations promulgated by
the Secretary under this Chapter.
Any person who shall engage in the business of undertaking or
embalming in violation of any provision of this Chapter shall be liable
to a penalty of not more than one thousand pesos for each violation.
Each day or any part thereof during which any prohibited business
or practice is continued shall be deemed a separate violation and
subject to the same penalty prescribed in the preceding paragraph.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
