Question & AnswerQ&A (Act No. 1677)
The main purpose of Act No. 1677 is to provide anatomical material for the advancement of medical science by allowing the use of unclaimed deceased persons' bodies for medical study and scientific investigation.
The bodies of deceased persons who are to be buried at public expense and remain unclaimed by relatives or friends for a period of forty-eight hours after death can be used.
The Director of Health, with approval from the Secretary of the Interior, has the authority to order the use of unclaimed bodies for medical science.
The body must be unclaimed for at least forty-eight hours after death, the burial is at public expense, and the disposition must be ordered by the Director of Health with the Secretary of the Interior's approval.
The law mandates that the remains be decently buried and that the necessary expenses for burial be defrayed as regulated by the Director of Health.
The penalty is a fine not exceeding two hundred pesos, or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Yes, the law explicitly states that except for autopsies or as provided in the Act, unauthorized use of bodies is punishable.
The Bureau of Health has the responsibility for the disposition of unclaimed bodies after forty-eight hours for the purposes of medical science upon order of the Director of Health.
The Act took effect immediately upon its passage on August 6, 1907.
The passage of the Act was expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September 26, 1900.