DSWD: Free Funeral Services Act to provide burial assistance under AICS

The Department of Social Welfare and Devlopment said the Free Funeral Services Act will serve as a basis in providing burial assistance indigent families under its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program.

Director Edwin Morata of the DSWD's Crisis Intervention Program said under Repunlic Act No. 12309 or the Free Funeral Services Act of 2025, the DSWD will come up with the standard amount of burial assistance upon issuance of the law's implementing Rules and Regulations.

This development will help address the need of poor families to provide a decent funeral and burial for their departed loved ones.

The free funeral services will cover expenses for funeral parlors, funeral chapels, transportation, cremation and burial.

Even as the new law lapsed into law last September 27, Morata said the DSWD  via its AICS program has been providing burial assistance through Guarantee Letters to those seeking help from the department.

DSWD figures from 2014 to September 2025 show it has given assistance to families of 1,439,160 persons, with P10.9 million released as funeral assistance via the AICS program.

To avail of the burial assistance, DSWD said a bereaved family member of the deceased is designated a representative and must present a valid ID, the death certificate of the departed and the funeral contract as well as a social case study prepared by a social worker. - RF, GMA Integrated News