Question & AnswerQ&A (DOH IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS OF CHAPTER XXI ~ "DISPOSAL OF DEAD PERSONS" OF THE CODE ON SANITATION OF THE PHILIPPINES)
These rules apply to all crematories, funeral and embalming establishments, medical and research institutions, undertakers, embalmers, public and private burial grounds, and other similar institutions operated by government or private entities.
Burial grounds include cemeteries, memorial parks, or any place duly authorized by law for the permanent disposal of the dead.
Adequate, clean, accessible toilet facilities separated for males, females, and disabled persons must be provided, with lavatories, proper lighting, ventilation, odor absorbent materials, and compliance with specific minimum numbers of water closets and urinals based on the population served.
Graves must be at least one and one-half (1.5) meters deep and be well-filled and firm. Remains should not be buried in areas where the water table is less than two (2) meters from the natural ground surface.
The Secretary of Health may revoke or suspend their licenses. Additionally, any person engaging in unauthorized undertaking or embalming faces a penalty of not more than Php1,000.00 per violation, with each day constituting a separate violation.
A feasibility study approved by the Secretary of Health must be submitted. The crematorium requires a sanitary permit valid for one year, must employ licensed undertakers with health certificates, provide adequate washing facilities, and comply with design and construction standards including cremation oven temperature and smoke stack standards.
The Committee includes the Director of Environmental Health Service, a sanitary engineer, a medical officer (preferably pathologist), a legal officer, a representative from the Office for Public Health Services, and a representative from the undertakers and embalmers association.
Must be a Filipino citizen aged 21 to 60, of good moral character, physically and mentally fit, high school graduate, completed basic instruction in anatomy, microbiology, sanitation, ethics, and jurisprudence, and have embalmed at least 10 cadavers under supervision within one year.
They must be buried for at least five years before exhumation, remains must be disinfected then hermetically sealed and properly identified, permits for exhumation and reburial must be obtained, and the process must be supervised by the local health officer.
A cemetery may be closed if it no longer meets the required distance from dwellings or water sources or it has been fully utilized. Closure requires a city or municipal council resolution, exhumation and transfer permits, notification of relatives, identification and proper disposition of remains, all under local health officer supervision and regional health director approval.
The local health officer must inspect and evaluate compliance, issue and recommend suspension or revocation of sanitary permits, issue death certificates when no attending physician is present, supervise exhumations for medico-legal cases, and perform autopsies and dissections as necessary.