Bulacan eyes reduced COVID burial benefits as funds dry up

FINAL RESTING PLACE: A family visits the niche of a relative at Himlayan sa Kalikasan Memorial Garden in the City of Malolos, Bulacan province, in this photo taken on Nov. 30, 2021. The columbarium serves as the main burial space for patients who died of COVID-19 complications in the province. (Photo by CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE / Inquirer Central Luzon)

CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan, Philippines — —The growing number of people dying due to COVID-19 complications has taxed Bulacan’s provincial coffers, prompting officials to propose a reduction in burial assistance grants.

To date, the Bulacan government had spent up to P170 million for more than 5,600 fatalities, according to Rowena Joson Tiongson, head of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).

Each family is entitled to P30,000 burial assistance based on Provincial Ordinance No. 86-2020. The subsidy was enacted in 2020 and was supposed to help families cope with the high cremation expense.

But the PSWDO is proposing a reduction of benefits to P20,000, and to separate benefits for families of those classified as “suspected” COVID-19 deaths, Joson told the Inquirer on Tuesday.

No distinction

Under an amendatory measure, suspected cases would be entitled to P5,000 or P10,000 in burial aid.

Joson said the ordinance did not make that distinction so the Bulacan government spent P170 million, with the funds taken from the province’s other allocations for its pandemic response.

But Tiongson said probable or suspected COVID-19 deaths could not be considered actual pandemic-related fatalities.

Since the pandemic was declared in 2020, only 1,545 fatalities have been confirmed to have died from COVID-19 as of Monday, data from the Bulacan provincial health office showed.

“We can’t move forward anymore if we continue to provide P30,000 burial benefits across the board. We will happily provide P30,000 to the family of a suspected COVID-19 patient who died, provided the remains later test positive for the disease,” Tiongson said.

She added: “If they are not [COVID-19-related deaths], then they should not receive P30,000. The treasury can no longer shoulder that burden. It would collapse. We need to amend the ordinance.”

Gov. Daniel Fernando said he had asked the provincial board to consider the recommendation of the PSWDO.

—CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE INQ