MANILA, Philippines—Mayor Alfredo Lim has issued a ban on funeral parlor agents from compounds of Manila hospitals who scout for potential clients, causing further stress to ailing patients and their relatives.
Lim issued the order during a recent meeting with directors of city-run hospitals.
“These people will ask around who’s going to die soon. They already talk to the family while the patient is still struggling. They’ll push the contract on the bereaved family, who sign it just because they’re distressed,” Lim said in Filipino, in a statement.
Lim noted that the presence of funeral parlors’ agents should come as a slap on the face of hospital staff. “Our goal is to ensure that every patient that comes into the hospital comes out alive and well,” he pointed out.
Manila has six public hospitals, one in each district, offering free medical services to indigents: the Justice Jose Abad Santos Mother and Child Hospital, the Ospital ng Tondo, the Ospital ng Maynila, the Sta. Ana Hospital, the Ospital ng Sampaloc and the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center.