Policy and public health purpose
- The Act establishes a regulatory framework to protect public health in burial, interment, exhumation, shipment of remains, and related funeral practices.
- The Act authorizes closure and removal of cemeteries that pose a menace to the public health.
- The Act mandates disease-specific controls for bodies of persons who died from contagious, infectious, or communicable diseases of a dangerous character.
Definitions and core coverage
- The Act covers:
- Establishing, maintaining, enlarging, or removing burial grounds and cemeteries.
- Burial, interment, disinterment, exhumation, transfer, and cremation.
- Funeral practices, including public funerals and church/community ceremonies.
- Storage and handling facilities such as morgues, undertaking establishments, receiving vaults, and embalming places.
- Shipment of bodies or remains by sea.
- The Act covers regulation of both municipal and non-municipal burial grounds and cemeteries, including those conducted by municipalities, societies, corporations, churches, and other persons or organizations.
- The Act regulates activities within proximity limits to water sources and limits relative to dwellings.
Burial place location requirements
- It is unlawful to bury or inter the dead, or to use land as a burial place or temporary or permanent interment or disposal of the dead within:
- fifty meters of either side of any river; or
- fifty meters of any spring, well, or other source of water supply.
- The Director of Health may authorize, in discretion, the continuance of a burial ground, cemetery, or other disposal place that does not meet the water proximity requirement if it was established prior to the passage of the Act.
- After passage of the Act, no burial ground or cemetery shall be authorized or established unless it is at least twenty-five meters from any dwelling house.
- Abandoned houses, houses used by employees or attendants of the cemetery, and houses used for administrative or other necessary purposes connected with the cemetery are not considered “dwelling houses” for purposes of the twenty-five meter requirement.
- Cemetery and burial grounds must have an open space unobstructed by habitations or other structures of at least twenty-five meters on all sides, except as allowed by the Act.
Municipal cemeteries: land, fees, by-laws
- Municipal councils may set apart municipal land for municipal burial grounds or cemeteries and designate a portion as a place of burial for the poor, then lay out remaining unoccupied areas into suitable lots with paths/avenues/reserved spaces, and embellish the area with trees, shrubs, flowers, and ornaments.
- Land acquired by a municipal council for cemetery purposes is exempt from taxation, attachment, or levy of execution.
- Municipal council may grant and convey cemetery lots in the name of the municipality by deed or other legal conveyance for burial and for erecting tombs, cenotaphs, and other monuments.
- Proceeds realized from the sale of cemetery lots in a municipal cemetery must be deposited in the municipal treasury and kept separate; disbursement must be ordered by the municipal council using properly prepared and signed vouchers, for keeping in order, improving, and embellishing the cemetery.
- Municipal councils may make, alter, amend, or repeal by-laws and regulations for administration of municipal burial grounds or cemeteries subject to approval of the Director of Health, and the by-laws must be recorded by the municipal secretary with certified copies filed with the local board of health, if there is one.
- By-laws and regulations must not restrict or interfere with full exercise of religious sentiments in burial matters.
- By-laws and regulations must not interfere with organizations, churches, religious denominations, or sects in maintaining and regulating burial grounds or cemeteries according to their beliefs or customs.
- Municipal rules and regulations must not discriminate against burial of bodies on account of race, nationality, or religion.
- Sanitary by-laws and regulations for cemeteries may be made by local health authorities, subject to submission to and approval by the Director of Health.
- Any municipal council may designate the municipal board of health or any member thereof to act as the council’s representative in administering municipal cemeteries, with no extra compensation.
Permits, approvals, and time limits
- Establishing, maintaining, enlarging, or removing any burial ground or cemetery requires a permit approved by the Director of Health.
- Permit applications must be transmitted by or through the municipal council of the municipality where the burial ground or cemetery is to be established or located, with municipal council indorsements before transmission to the Director of Health.
- Municipal councils must forward applications to the Director of Health within ten days after filing.
- A burial ground, cemetery, or other place not a municipal cemetery may be enlarged only by obtaining a permit in the manner prescribed in Section 12.
- Land used for private burial grounds or cemeteries is exempt from taxation, attachment, or levy of execution.
- Provincial or municipal board of health decisions or actions affecting burial grounds, cemeteries, or disposal of the dead (except emergencies) are invalid unless approved by the Director of Health.
- Municipal councils may close a cemetery within their jurisdiction with the approval of the Director of Health and may cause removal when absolutely necessary, but no cemetery may be removed without approval of the Director of Health and the Secretary of the Interior.
- The municipal secretary must issue permits for burial or transfer of the dead upon presentation of required death certificates, and must record on the certificates the place of interment and, when practicable, the grave number; for disinterment, it must note the cemetery and grave number from which the body was transferred.
- No permit may be granted for interment, disinterment, burying, disintering, or removing for burial until a required certificate of death has been filed.
- When it is impossible to secure a death certificate in the required form and manner, municipal secretaries may issue permits using such obtainable data.
- Death certificates must accompany the transfer permit by providing a copy when bodies or remains are transferred from one municipality to another.
- Permits for burial, interment, or cremation are null and void after forty-eight (48) hours from issuance time.
- No dead body may remain unburied longer than forty-eight hours after death except for legal investigation purposes or when specially authorized by local health authorities.
- When death is certified or known to be due to a contagious, infectious, or communicable disease of a dangerous character, the body must be buried within twelve hours after death unless otherwise directed by the local board of health.
- Upon written request, a special permit may be issued for conveyance of a dead body to sea for burial if transport is in the manner prescribed by the municipal board of health (or municipal secretary where no board of health exists), marine laws governing burials at sea are complied with, and death is not due to a contagious, infectious, or communicable disease of a dangerous character.
- Disinterment or exhumation permissibility is governed by the elapsed time rules in Sections 23 and 24, and may require special permits in the cases stated there.
Death certificates and suspected crime
- Except in emergencies, no dead body may be buried without a certificate of death.
- If a physician attended the deceased, it is the physician’s duty to furnish the required certificate of death.
- If no physician attended, the duty to furnish the certificate lies with a president of a municipal board of health or any physician registered under Act Numbered Three hundred and ten.
- If no physician or medical officer is available, it is the duty of the president, secretary, or a councilor of the municipality to furnish the required certificate.
- Death certificates must contain:
- name of the deceased, age, sex, nationality, occupation,
- whether married or single, and whether widowed or divorced,
- date of death, place of death,
- cause of death when known,
- duration of illness,
- residence of deceased,
- whether deceased was a permanent or transient resident of the municipality where death occurred,
- whether deceased had medical attendance, and if so the length of such attendance,
- name and address of the attending physician,
- indications of violence or crime, and
- other information required for identification or statistical purposes.
- The death certificate must be forwarded by the person issuing it to the municipal secretary within forty-eight hours after death.
- If the person issuing a death certificate suspects or observes indications of violence or crime, the person must notify the provincial fiscal if available; otherwise the person must notify the municipal president.
- The corpse must not be buried or interred until permission is obtained from the provincial fiscal (if available) or the municipal president (if not).
Handling of bodies, records, disinfection, and morgues
- It is unlawful for any sexton, superintendent, or person in charge of a burial ground or cemetery to assist in, assent to, or allow any interment, disinterment, or cremation unless a permit from the municipal secretary authorizing the act is presented.
- Local boards of health must keep full and complete records of deaths and may require reports from persons charged with burial of remains as needed for maintaining those records.
- All morgues, undertaking establishments, receiving vaults, places for embalming, burial grounds or cemeteries, crematories, and other places for disposition of the dead must be open to inspection at all hours by local health authorities or the Director of Health.
- Public and private institutions and establishments must be governed by sanitary regulations approved by the Director of Health.
- Local health authorities must ensure bodies of persons who died of infectious or contagious disease are thoroughly disinfected before preparation for burial, and they must ensure that the house, furniture, wearing apparel, and everything capable of conveying or spreading infection is disinfected or destroyed by fire.
- The local board of health, if there is one and subject to approval of the Director of Health, must prescribe conditions under which dangerous infectious/contagious/communicable disease bodies are buried or cremated.
Grave depth and tomb placement rules
- When practicable, graves must be dug to at least a depth that ensures:
- at least three feet of earth covering bodies inclosed in coffins, boxes, or other solid receptacles; and
- at least four feet of earth covering uncoffined bodies.
- The placing of a deceased person’s body in an unsealed overground tomb is prohibited unless the coffin or casket is permanently sealed.
- The prohibition does not apply to tombs and vaults that are strictly receiving vaults for bodies or remains awaiting final disposition.
Disinterment, exhumation, and sealing
- For noncontagious, noninfectious, and non-communicable diseases:
- permission to disinter or exhume is allowed only after the body has been buried for a period of three years.
- upon exhumation, the body or remains must be immediately disinfected and placed in a coffin, case, or box securely fastened, and placed in an outside box securely fastened.
- special permits may be issued when disinterment/exhumation after one and one-half years is expected not to be to the detriment of public health.
- special permits may be issued at any time for remains of persons who died of noncontagious, noninfectious, or non-communicable diseases if the remains have been properly embalmed by an undertaker or embalmer, or for transfer/removal of bodies placed in receiving vaults awaiting transportation from the Philippine Islands.
- boxes containing bodies/remains must be plainly marked with pasters showing the name of the deceased, place of death, cause of death, and the point to which they are to be shipped.
- For contagious, infectious, or communicable diseases of a dangerous character:
- exhumation is allowed only after a period of five years has elapsed.
- remains must be properly disinfected and placed in a suitable hermetically sealed container.
Shipment by sea and receiving markings
- No body or remains may be shipped by sea unless shipped under conditions and regulations prescribed by the United States Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service.
- The outside box containing the body or remains intended for sea shipment must be securely tacked with a card showing:
- name, age, nationality of deceased,
- cause of death, and
- destination of the remains.
- A copy of the card must be supplied to the Chief Quarantine Officer of the Philippine Islands or the person’s authorized representative.
- All regulations governing shipment of bodies or remains must be complied with.
Funeral rights and epidemic limits
- Except in times of epidemics, public funerals and taking remains into churches or other places for this purpose may not be abridged or interfered with.
- Remains brought to public funeral settings must be properly disinfected and enclosed in a substantial coffin of wood or metal to prevent escape of offensive gases or odors.
- Funerals must be conducted in an orderly manner.
- In epidemics recognized by the Director of Health, and in deaths due to or with dangerous contagious/infectious/communicable diseases:
- bodies must not be taken to places of public assembly; and
- attendance is limited to adult members of the immediate family of the deceased, the deceased’s nearest friends not exceeding four, and other persons whose attendance is absolutely necessary.
- After the deceased has been buried for one hour, a public funeral may be held at the grave or in a place of public assembly or elsewhere.
Military authority carve-out
- The Act does not interfere with military authorities of the United States in transporting bodies or remains of officers, soldiers, sailors, and civilian employees in the Army or Navy, or other public service of the United States, or their families, under Acts of Congress.
- When death is not due to or with cholera, bubonic plague, smallpox, yellow fever, or such other dangerous communicable diseases as the Director of Health designates, normal military handling is not constrained by this Act’s funeral/disposition controls.
- When death is due to or with those listed diseases or other dangerous communicable diseases designated by the Director of Health, two years must elapse before disinterment unless the bodies were cremated before burial.
- The Act also does not interfere with transit of bodies of United States military personnel and their families from place of death to authorized burial places or embalming places, or to morgues or receiving places for the dead.
Immediate duty to bury: priority and liability
- The duty of burying a deceased person’s body devolves as follows:
- If the deceased was a married man or woman, duty devolves upon the surviving spouse who possesses sufficient means to pay necessary expenses.
- If the deceased was an unmarried man or woman, or a child, and left any kin, duty devolves upon the nearest of kin who are adults, within the Philippine Islands, and possess sufficient means to defray necessary expenses.
- If the deceased left no spouse or kindred with sufficient means under the above rules, duty devolves upon municipal authorities.
- The ultimate liability of the deceased’s estate for payment of expenses remains, while the section fixes immediate duty of burial regardless of ultimate responsibility.
Custody of the body for burial
- A person charged by law with the duty of burying the body is entitled to its custody for burial purposes.
- When an inquest is required by law to determine the cause of death, custody is governed accordingly to the inquest requirement.
- For death due to or with a contagious, infectious, or communicable disease of a dangerous character, the body must remain in the custody of the local board of health if there is one; otherwise custody remains with the municipal council until burial.
Enforcement and penalties
- Any person who violates any provision of the Act, upon conviction, is punished by:
- a fine not to exceed two hundred pesos, or
- imprisonment for six months, or
- both,
- for each offense, in the discretion of the court.
Rules, implementation, and effective force
- The Director of Health may, with approval of the Secretary of the Interior, issue rules and regulations necessary to carry out the Act or address contingencies and emergencies as they arise.
- Approved rules and regulations have the force and effect of law.
- In the jurisdiction of the Moro Province, such rules and regulations must be made and submitted by the governor of the Moro Province to the Secretary of the Interior; if approved, they have the force and effect of law within the Moro Province.
Restrictions on unlawful burial and cemetery destruction
- Except in emergencies, any person who buries or inters, or causes burial or interment, of a dead body or human remains in any place other than a burial ground or cemetery lawfully existing (now or later) is punished as provided for in the Act.
- Any person who wantonly or maliciously defaces, breaks, or destroys any tomb, ornament, grave-stone, memento, memorial, or plants/trees/shrubs pertaining to places of burial, or who wantonly or maliciously removes any fence, post, or wall of a burial ground or cemetery, is punished as provided for in the Act.
Omission of burial duty within 48 hours
- A person upon whom immediate duty of burial is imposed who omits to perform that duty within forty-eight hours after death, having ability to do so, is punished as provided for in the Act.
Closure and removal authority
- The Director of Health has authority to close any burial ground or cemetery, whether municipal, conducted by societies/corporations/churches, or conducted by persons, whenever the Director of Health determines it is a menace to public health.
- A municipal council may close its cemeteries within its jurisdiction with approval of the Director of Health and may remove cemeteries when absolutely necessary, subject to approvals required for removal.
Repeal and procedural enactment
- Conflicting laws, ordinances, or parts thereof are repealed.
- The passage of the bill was expedited pursuant to section two of “An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws,” passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.