CDO health body eyes P500 cremation charge

January 31, 2010

By Lizanilla J. Amarga

Cagayan de Oro city councilor Dr. Dante Pajo recently revealed that he has received a proposed legislative measure that would make dying and being cremated by funeral firms here more expensive than before.

In an interview with Periodico News Network, Pajo who is the chairperson of the committee on health and social services said he is now looking into a proposal for the enactment of an ordinance requiring any competent and authorized Funeral Service Provider to pay P500 to the city for every cremation service to be undertaken.
The proposal stemmed from a recommendation from City Treasurer Lino Daral who is also tasked to look into possible revenue generation measures for City Hall.

“We are still weighing on the advantages and disadvantages of approving such an ordinance as well as the propriety of charging no less than P500 per cremated body on these funeral firms,” Pajo said.

He pointed out that the City Government would like to encourage cremation or the burning of a person’s dead body to ashes rather than being buried whole which would result to making local cemeteries more overcrowded than ever.

He cited how his colleague City Councilor Atty. Ramon Tabor had already moved for City Hall to set aside a budget for the creation of a crematorium complete with a chapel to solve the congestion at the city’s cemetery.

Pajo added that owners and operators of these funeral firms which offer cremation might just opt to pass this P500 cremation levy to be paid by those who commissioned such services from them.

Daral’s proposal already passed through the pre-approval of the office of City Mayor Constantino “Tinnex” Jaraula and that the move is well within legal provisions of Section 147of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 regarding the fees and charges that a local government unit may collect upon businesses and professionals operating and exercising their profession within its jurisdiction.

Section 147 provides that the city “may impose and collect such reasonable fees and charges on business and occupation, on the practice of any profession or calling, commensurate with the cost of regulation, inspection and licensing before any person may engage in such business or occupation, or practice such profession or calling.”

The exception to this is Section 139 of the same Code which deals with profession tax.

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