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Republic Act
Approved September 20, 2025

Republic Act No. 12309

Free Funeral Services Act

Free Funeral Services Act

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Republic Act No. 12309, enacted September 20, 2025, establishes free funeral services for poor families, appropriates necessary funds, outlines implementation by the DSWD, sets penalties, and includes provisions for payment, regulations, and effectivity.

  • Free funeral services to poor families
  • Uniform indigent funeral package
  • Coverage criteria by DSWD
  • Requirements to avail services
  • DSWD lead agency and DTI price monitoring
  • Payment mechanism by DSWD regional offices
  • Penalties for violations
  • Appropriations for implementation
  • Implementing rules and regulations within 60 days
  • Separability and effectivity clauses
Social Services
Public Health
Poverty Alleviation
Legal

[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 12309, September 20, 2025 ]

AN ACT GRANTING FREE FUNERAL SERVICES TO POOR FAMILIES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled;

Section 1

This Act shall be known as the "Free Funeral Services Act".

Section 2. Declaration of Policy

It is the policy of the State to promote a just and dynamic social order that ensures the prosperity and independence of the nation and frees the people from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services and promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all. To this end, the State shall give free funeral services to poor families who cannot afford a proper burial for their deceased.

Section 3. Definition of Terms

As used in this Act:

(a)Funeral establishment refers to a licensed business that provides funeral services, such as funeral parlor, funeral chapels, and any similar place used in the preparation, transportation, storage, and care of the body of a deceased person for burial or cremation;
(b)Indigent funeral package refers to the preparation of funeral documents, embalming, interment, or burial services, transport, cremation, and inurnment services, including the provision of a casket, urn, or venue, as the case may be, offered by funeral establishments; and (c) Poor refers to those families whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) and/or who cannot sustain or provide their minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing, or other essential amenities of life as defined under Republic Act No. 8425, otherwise known as the "Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act".

Section 4. Coverage

Free funeral services shall be provided to families who are in crisis situations, as determined by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), including, but not limited to, indigent families, or those affected by calamities, disasters, or other emergency circumstances that prevent them from affording dignified funeral services.

Section 5. Free Funeral Services for Poor Families

Free funeral services shall be provided to poor families per death of a family member by accredited funeral establishment anywhere in the country: Provided, That every funeral establishment shall have a uniform indigent funeral package, regardless of such establishment's type or location, available to all poor families, as determined by and in accordance with the DSWD.

Section 6. Requirements for Availing the Indigent Funeral Package

The bereaved family or representative must present the following to avail the indigent funeral package:

(a)Valid identification card of the claimant or beneficiary;
(b)Death certificate issued by the hospital or city/municipal health office, or certification from the tribal chieftain;
(c)Funeral contract signed by the representative of the deceased's family, the funeral establishment, and an authorized DSWD personnel; and (d) Social care study prepared by any registered social worker.

Section 7. Lead Agency

The DSWD shall be the lead agency in the implementation of this Act and shall engage the services of funeral establishments in the country. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) shall monitor and regulate the current market prices of funeral services, including the price of caskets and urns, to prevent undue or excessive price increases.

Section 8. Payment of Indigent Funeral Package

Funeral establishments granting free services to poor beneficiaries shall be paid the cost of the services by any regional office of the DSWD upon the approval of the Regional Director. The payment will be based on the stipulations of the signed contract between the representative of the deceased's family, the funeral establishment, and the authorized DSWD personnel.

Section 9. Penalties

Any violation of this Act shall be penalized with a fine not exceeding Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00) and a suspension of license to operate for a period not exceeding six (6) months.

Repeated violations after the suspension of the license to operate is lifted shall be penalized with a fine not exceeding Four hundred thousand pesos (P400,000.00) and revocation of such license of operate.

Any individual or establishment found to have fraudulently availed or facilitated the availment of free funeral services under this Act through law false representation, document falsification, or collusion shall be penalized with imprisonment of not less that six (6) months and a fine not exceeding Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00).

Section 10. Appropriations

The amount necessary for the initial implementation of this Act shall be charged against the current year's appropriations for the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) Program and other similar programs of the DSWD. Thereafter, such amount needed for the continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriation Act.

Section 11. Implementing Rules and Regulations

The DSWD shall promulgate the implementing rules and regulations within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act.

Section 12. Separability Clause

If any portion or provision of this Act is declared void or unconstitutional, the remaining portions or provisions hereof shall not be affected by such declaration.

Section 13. Repealing Clause

Any provision of law or regulation inconsistent herewith is hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly.

Section 14. Effectivity

This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publications in the Official Gazette or in the two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

| (SGD.) FERDINAND MARTIN G. ROMUALDEZ Speaker of the House of Representatives | (SGD.) FRANCIS "CHIZ" G. ESCUDERO President of the Senate |

This Act was passed by the Senate of the Philippines as Senate Bill No. 2965 on June 2, 2025 and adopted by the House of Representatives as an amendment to House Bill No. 102 on June 11, 2025.

REGINALD S. VELASCO

Secretary General House of Representatives

RENATO N. BANTUG, JR.

Secretary of the Senate

Approved: Lapsed into law on SEP 20 2025 without the signature of the President, in accordance with Article Vi, Section 27 (1) of the Constitution

FERDINAND ROMUALDEZ MARCOS JR.

President of the Philippines

For information and research only, and not legal advice. This text may not reflect later amendments. For certified copies, refer to the Official Gazette or the issuing agency.