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I. RATIONALE

Embalming is the process of cleaning, disinfecting and treating the dead human body with chemicals to delay its decomposition after death, so as to provide time for viewing and mourning before the final disposition. In ancient times, embalming was done for religious reasons. During the American Civil War, it was done to preserve the bodies of soldiers so they could be brought home for burial by their families. Today, embalming is considered a science and an art. It is not only done to delay natural decomposition but also to restore the pleasing appearance as family and friends say their last farewells. Likewise, the procedure is significant for preservation of evidence that could be used in medico-legal cases.

Over the past decades, practices involving disposal of the dead have undergone profound transformation, not only in the Philippines but worldwide. These changes requires revision of the subject implementing rules and regulations to improve the quality of embalming practice in the country to become globally comparable with other countries. Embalmers today are therefore, looked up to, because of the significant services they render including counseling assistance to bereaved parties.
 

The Department of Health created the Committee of Examiners for Undertakers and Embalmers (CEUE) to regulate the practice of embalming in accordance with the provisions of the Code on Sanitation of the Philippines (PD 856) and Executive Order No. 102 s.1999.  The issuance mandates the committee to ensure that only qualified individuals enter the regulated profession  and that the care and services which the embalmers provide are within the standards of the practice.

This revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) shall adopt among others, the current trends and modern practices of embalming towards competence and globally competitiveness of the profession, hence improve the quality of health service delivery.


II. OBJECTIVES

General:  To update the standards in the disposal of dead persons.

Specific:

1. Upgrade the quality of services accorded to dead persons;
2. Recognize the specific offices responsible relative to the disposal of dead persons;
3. Instill the essence of compassionate service among those responsible for care of dead persons.

III. SCOPE

This implementing rules and regulations shall apply to all embalmers, accredited embalming training institutions and training providers public and private burial grounds and other similar institutions operated by government agencies or instrumentalities including government – owned or controlled corporations, private organization, firms, individuals or other entities.


IV. DEFINITION OF TERMS

To provide the implementers / stakeholders a common frame of reference in the interpretation of these rules and regulations, the following terms as used in this Order are herein defined.

1. Burial – This refers to the interment or burying of the remains of a dead person in a grave or tomb.

2. Code – This refers to the Code on Sanitation of the Philippines, PD # 856

3. Committee – This refers to the Department of Health Committee of Examiners for Undertakers and Embalmers (CEUE)

4. Death Certificate – This refers to a legal document certifying the death of a person issued by the attending physician or in his/her absence, by the city/municipal health officer or other duly authorized government official, using the prescribed form.

5. Dead – This refers to a person exhibiting one or more of the following signs and observations:

•   Irreversible absence of pulse and respiration
•   Total absence of brain activity
•   Cooling of the body to well below normal temperature, 35^oC or less after 6 hours (algor mortis)
•   Pooling of blood in dependent (lower) parts giving the skin a red coloration in those areas (livor mortis)
•   Stiffening of the body due to rigor mortis
•   Sunken and cloudy eye balls
•   No moisture appears on a mirror placed near the mouth

6. Department – This refers to the Department of Health (DOH)

7. Embalming – This refers to the process by which a dead body is sanitized, preserved and restored before final disposition through the application, injection or introduction of any chemical substance, drug or herb internally and/or externally.

8. Embalming Facility – This refers to a place authorized by law where dead bodies are embalmed and prepared for final disposition.

9. Embalmer – This refers to a person duly licensed by the DOH to embalm dead bodies

10. Extreme Case – This refers to an exceptionally difficult situation with one or more of the following conditions:

•   Absence of a doctor
•   Far flung area
•   Mass casualty incidence
•   Mass burial
•   Absence of relatives

11. Funeral Establishment – This refers to a place authorized by law offering funeral services, chapels and embalming facilities for a deceased person for burial or cremation.

12. Health Certificate – This refers to an official written certification issued by the city or municipal health officer to a person employed in a funeral establishment or other related service after passing the required physical and medical examinations.

13. Local Government Unit (LGU) – This refers to a local political subdivision; the province, city, municipality or barangay.

14. Local Health Authority – This refers to the official or employee responsible for the application of a prescribed health measure in a local political subdivision. For a province, the local health authority is the governor and for a city or municipality, the local health authority is the mayor.

15. Local Health Officer – This refers to the officer heading the health team of the local health authority; the provincial, city or municipal health officer.

16. Morgue – This refers to a place in which dead bodies are temporarily kept pending identification, autopsy and/or removal for final disposition.

17. Regional Director – This refers to the DOH official heading the Regional Health Office or the Center for Health Development (CHD).

18. Sanitary Engineer – This refers to a person duly registered with the Board of Examiners for Sanitary Engineers (Republic Act 1364) and who heads the Sanitation Division/ Section/Unit of the provincial, city or municipal health office or rural health unit or employed with the Department of Health or its regional health offices.

19. Sanitation Inspector – This refers to a government officer, employed by the national, provincial, city or municipal government, who enforces sanitary rules, laws and regulations and implements environmental sanitation activities under the supervision of the provincial/ city/ municipal health officer/ sanitary engineer.

20. Sanitary Permit – This refers to a written permission or certification of the city or municipal health officer or in his absence, the chief or head of the sanitation division/ section/ unit, that the establishment complies with existing sanitation requirements upon evaluation or inspection conducted in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 522 and
856 and local ordinances.

21. Undertaker – This refers to a person who practices undertaking.

22. Undertaking – the care, transport and disposal of the body of a deceased person by any means other than embalming.

V. GENERAL GUIDELINES

Article I
Sanitary Requirements in Establishments and Operations

Section 1:   Burial Ground Requirements

1.1 The requirement for a death certificate before burial may be waived in the case of special circumstances when the death certificate cannot be issued in time.  These includes but are not limited to:

1.1a  The deceased died from a dangerous communicable disease and must be buried within 12 hours
1.1b  The family members of the deceased have requested immediate cremation without embalming or viewing
1.1c  The kin opt for immediate burial
1.1d  Religious Beliefs or Tradition, such as Islam or the Jewish faith calls for burial within 12 hours after death

In these cases, death certificate issuance shall be completed within 12 hours after burial or sanction shall be imposed by the local health authority.

1.2  No remains shall be buried without a burial permit issued by the city/municipality where the burial will take place.

1.3 Funeral parlors or embalming establishments shall not hold unclaimed bodies longer than 60 days or sanction shall be imposed by the local health authority.

1.4 The following are declared as Dangerous Communicable Diseases:

1.4a  Hepatitis B and C
1.4b  Rabies
1.4c  Invasive group A streptococcal infections
1.4d  Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (e.g. Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease or CJD   and mad cow disease)
1.4e  HIV/AIDS
1.4f  Meningiococcemia
1.4g  Viral hemorrhagic fevers (e.g. African Ebolas, Lassa or Marburg)
1.4h  Yellow fever
1.4i  Plague
1.4j  SARS
1.4k  Other communicable diseases that shall be declared by the Department of Health

It is recognized that viral hemorrhagic fever, yellow fever, plague and SARS are not found in the Philippines at this time but they may be brought in at any time by travelers.

1.5 The following are the requirements when the cause of death is dangerous communicable disease:

1.5a  The remains shall be placed in a plastic cadaver bag or other durable, airtight container at the point of death and a biohazard tag attached, provided, that, this container shall not be opened for viewing or any other purpose prior to burial or cremation;

Section 2:   Closure and removal of cemeteries

2.1 Upon the recommendation of the local health authority, a cemetery may be ordered closed by the regional health director subject to the approval of the Secretary of Health when its further use poses a threat to public health such as when:

2.1a  The requirements for the 25-meter and 50-meter distance from the nearest dwelling house and source of water supply, respectively, are no longer met;

2.1b  Refuse has been allowed to accumulate and the vermin abatement program has not been maintained;

2.1c  The sanitary requirements have not been maintained in good working order;

2.1d  Persons are being allowed to reside inside the cemetery;

The Regional Health Director or his duly authorized representative shall have the authority to monitor, implement and enforce sanitary rules and regulations, including violation of regulations against residing inside the cemetery premises. Violations thereof shall be a ground for closure and revocation of the permit if the deficiencies are not corrected within a specified time period.

Section 3:  Funeral and Embalming Establishments

3.1 Personnel

3.1.1   Undertakers

3.1.1a  Accompany the transfer of deceased person by land or by sea at a distance more than 50 kilometers from the place of origin or, in the case of air transport, make  arrangements for the remains to be met by another undertaker at the destination.
3.1.1b  Update their knowledge by undergoing training conducted by Department of Health accredited trainers/ institutions

3.1.2   Embalmers

3.1.2a   Embalmers shall be licensed to practice only after compliance with the requirements prescribed by the Department of Health. Such license is renewable every three (3) years on their birth month at their respective regional health offices;

3.1.2b Responsibilities of embalmers shall include but shall not be limited to the following:

i.  Ensure the identity of the deceased before proceeding with embalming;
ii.  Attend to all procedures of embalming of remains;
iii.  Ensure that no parts of the remains shall be removed during embalming;
iv.  Apply all sanitary precautions in embalming of remains; and
v.  Update their knowledge by undergoing training conducted by Department of Health accredited trainers/ institutions/ associations.

3.1.3 Other Personnel

Other personnel of the establishment shall have an up-to-date health certificate.

3.2 Classification of Funeral Establishments

3.2.1 Funeral Establishments shall be classified in three (3) categories which are described as follows:

3.2.2  Category 1 – establishments with chapels and embalming facilities and offering funeral transport services ;

3.2.3  Category II – Establishments with viewing chapels and offering funeral transport services but without embalming facilities; and

3.2.4  Category III – Establishments offering only funeral transport services from the place of origin and viewing to the place of burial place

3.2.4a  Category I establishments, in compliance with the provisions of Section 3.3 below, may enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Categories II and III establishments to provide embalming services, provided, that, the Category II and III establishments are within 50 kilometers of the Category I establishment.  The duly  notarized memorandum of agreement shall contain the following:

3.2.4b  Name of the contracting parties and the registered name of their corresponding  funeral establishments

3.2.4c  Schedule of fees for embalming services;

3.2.8   Date contracted and dates of effectivity;

3.2.9   Signature of the contracting parties;

3.2.10   Certificate of Registration and Updated License of Embalmer(s).

3.3 The number of Category II and III establishments that may be served by a Category I establishment shall be governed by the table below.
 

NUMBER OF LICENSED EMBALMERS		NUMBER OF ACCREDITED ALLOWED CATEGORY II OR CATEGORY III ESTABLISHMENT
1-2		1-4
2-4		5-8
5-UP		3 or more

3.3.1  Categories II and III funeral establishments shall have a current and valid memorandum of agreement with a Category I establishment for embalming services as a requirement for renewal of their annual sanitary permit.  The memorandum of agreement shall be valid for the entire period of the sanitary permit.  Personnel of Category II and Category III shall not embalm dead persons except in a licensed facility.  Violation of this provision shall be a ground for cancellation of their permit to operate.

3.3.2  All Category I establishments providing embalming services to other establishments shall maintain a record of all bodies embalmed for each subscribing Category II or III establishments. These records shall contain the name, sex, age and home address of the person embalmed and the name of the next of kin. Said records shall be maintained for a minimum of five (5) years after the services were provided.

3.3.3  For embalming rooms, ventilation shall be provided with an exhaust fan drawing from about 60 cm above the floor with fresh air inlet(s) on or near the opposite side of the room.  The exhaust fan shall have a capacity of not less than 0.3 cubic meters per minute. During embalming, no fresh air inlet shall be opened on the same wall as the exhaust fan or on nearby side walls.

3.3.3a  Embalming shall be performed on a table made of single marble slab, aluminum, stainless steel or other equally impervious materials with a minimum size of 0.60 m. x 1.80;

3.3.3b  Embalmers and undertakers shall use personal protective equipment (PPE) such as rubber gloves, aprons, boots and safety goggles while working;

3.3.3c  Washing facilities with soaps, detergents and germicidal solutions shall be provided for use of the working personnel;

3.3.3d  Embalmers and undertakers shall be provided with lockers and closets for personal protective equipment and a separate closet for chemicals used for embalming.

Section 4:  Evaluation and Inspection

4.1   Sanitation Inspection Fee

The fees payable for every inspection shall be of such amount prescribed by local ordinance.

FLOW CHART OF EVALUATION AND INSPECTION PROCEDURE


Payment of amount prescribed by local ordinance shall be made at the city/municipal treasurer concerned.

(See Image (NAR) VOL. 22 NO. 1/ JANUARY - MARCH 2011 page 265)

Inspection of the establishment within 7 days after payment of inspection fee at the city/municipal treasurer concerned

(See Image (NAR) VOL. 22 NO. 1/ JANUARY - MARCH 2011 page 265)

City/Municipal Health Officer or Chief of Sanitation Division / Section / Unit or local health office, issues a Mission Order (EHS Form No. 112) as specified in Sect. 8.3.b

(See Image (NAR) VOL. 22 NO. 1/ JANUARY - MARCH 2011 page 265)

Sanitary Engineer / Sanitation Inspector conducts the sanitation Inspection

Article II
Organization, Examination & Registration

Section 5:   Committee of Examiners for Undertakers and Embalmers

5.1  Membership

5.1.1 There shall be a Committee of Examiners for Undertakers and Embalmers, hereinafter referred to as the “Committee”, which shall be under the direct supervision of the Secretary of Health (DOH).  It shall be a collegial body composed of a chairperson and members to be appointed by the Secretary of Health;

5.1.2 The Committee shall be created through a Department Personnel Order (DPO) and shall be composed of members from the following offices/ institutions:

5.1.2a  National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (NCDPC) – Chairperson
5.1.2b  Health Human Resource Development Bureau (HHRDB) – Vice- Chairperson
5.1.2c  Sanitary Engineer – Member
5.1.2d  Pathologist – Member
5.1.2e  Legal Officer – Member
5.1.2f  4 Embalmers – assessors / facilitators (active members of an organization of  licensed embalmers);

5.1.3  The Health Human Resource Development Bureau shall serve as the Committee Secretariat;

5.1.4  The chairperson, vice-chairperson and the members shall hold office for three (3) years or until their successors shall have been appointed and duly qualified without prejudice to reappointment for another term.

5.2  Duties and Functions of the Committee

The Committee shall have the following functions and duties

5.2.1  To announce, schedule and hold examinations for embalmers; to approve or disapprove applications for examination and to perform all other duties pertinent and related thereto;

5.2.2  To issue licenses to embalmers who have satisfactorily  passed the licensure examination and have complied with the requirements prescribed by law; to deny the issuance of license to any candidate and / or to cancel the license issued to any holder of certificate upon conviction of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude, or has been declared to be of unsound mind or physically unfit, or who has been found violating existing laws, rules and regulations as the case maybe;

5.2.3  To issue certified true copies of lost or damaged licenses for embalmers;

5.2.4  To conduct investigations to all sworn complaints against licensed embalmers and to submit its findings and recommendations to the Secretary of Health for appropriate action;

5.2.5  To accredit institutions, associations or trainers conducting training programs and review courses for embalmers;

5.2.6  To establish criteria for the accreditation of institutions, associations or trainers who shall train the embalmers;

5.2.7  It shall be the duty of the Department of Health (DOH) Committee of Examiners for Undertakers and Embalmers (CEUE) to cause the monitoring of embalmers at least twice a year or as may deem necessary for the enforcement of the rules and regulations as applied to licensed embalmers;

5.2.8  To perform other functions necessary to regulate, standardize, professionalize and uplift the practice of embalming;

5.2.9  To perform such other related duties assigned by the Secretary of Health to implement pertinent provisions of the Code on Sanitation of the Philippines (PD 856) and these implementing rules and regulations.

5.3   Honoraria of the Committee

The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Members of the Committee shall receive a monthly allowance during their term of office. Likewise, they are allowed to receive honorarium as resource speakers/persons under Administrative Order No. 93 s.2003 dated September 23, 2003.

Section 6.  Examination and Registration of Embalmers

6.1  Date of Examination

Examinations for embalmers shall be conducted any day within the first week of March and September of every year. In exceptional cases, the committee may give the examination on other dates outside the prescribed ones as may be deemed necessary.

6.2  Place of Examination

The examination for embalmers shall be conducted at the Department of Health, Manila or other venues as determined by the Committee.  The CEUE may conduct simultaneous licensure examinations in the Central Office and the Centers for Health Development (CHDs). However, it is recommended that CHDs must have a minimum of FIFTY (50) examinees per schedule for cost-effectiveness.

6.3  Qualifications of Applicants

Applicants for embalmers licensure examination must have the following qualifications:

6.3.1 Filipino citizen;
6.3.2 at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of the examination;
6.3.3 must be of good moral character as certified by the barangay captain of the community where the applicant resides;
6.3.4 must submit a certification or clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) or the provincial fiscal indicating that he/she is not convicted by the court of any case involving moral turpitude;
6.3.5 must submit a medical certificate from a government physician that he/ she is physically and mentally fit to take the licensure examination;
6.3.6 must be at least a high school graduate;
6.3.7 must submit a certification from any Department of Health accredited training institution signed by the accredited training provider that he/she had received the following instructions:

 

COURSE CODE	COURSE TITLE	Total Number of Hours
ANA-PHY	Anatomy – General and Organ System
	Anatomy as Applied in Embalming
	Physiology– General and Organ System
	Physiology as Applied in Embalming	10 Hours
MIC-PARA	Microbiology – General Microbiology as Applied to Embalming
	Parasitology – General Parasitology as Applied to Embalming	10 Hours
EMB I	Embalming I – Practice of Embalming	30 Hours
EMB II	Embalming II – Hygiene and Sanitation	10 Hours
EMB III	Embalming III – Ethics and Jurisprudence	20 Hours
CP	Practical – actual exposure / cases	60 Hours
	TOTAL NUMBER OF HOURS	140 Hours

6.3.8 must submit a certification that he/she has skillfully embalmed at least 10 cadavers within a one (1) year period under the supervision of any licensed embalmer;
6.3.9 must submit the notarized accomplished application form with three (3) copies of passport size photograph taken within the last six (6) months.

6.4   Examination Fees

Applicants shall pay an examination fee in the amount prescribed by the Department. The application form and the examination fee, including the necessary documents stat- ed, must be filed two weeks before the examination date in order for the applicant to be included in the list of examinees.

6.5   Scope of Examination

The examinations shall consist of the theoretical and oral / practical questions. The theoretical examination shall be conducted in writing and comprise basic questions based on Section 6.3.7. The oral/ practical examination shall consist of the procedures and techniques in embalming the remains.

6.6   Passing Average

6.6.1 For an examinee to pass the examination, he/she must obtain a general average of 75% in the written examination and a general average of 75% in the oral /practical examination.
6.6.2 Only those who have passed   the theoretical examination shall be allowed to take the oral/practical examination;
6.6.3 All the examinees who passed the theoretical examination shall take the oral/practical examination within one (1) month after official advice, otherwise, the results of the theoretical examination shall be deemed cancelled;

6.7   Certificate of Registration

6.7.1 Issuance

6.7.1.a   All examinees who have passed the required examination shall be issued a certificate of registration duly signed by the chairperson of the Committee and approved by the Secretary of Health
6.7.1.b   The certificate of registration shall bear the recent picture and signature of the successful examinee and will be valid for three (3) years. Payment of registration and miscellaneous fees shall be paid to the Department of Health (central offices).
6.7.1.c   The certificate of registration shall be posted conspicuously in the establishment concerned.
6.7.1.d   Renewal of the Certificate of Registration

-   An embalmer shall apply for the renewal of the certificate of registration on his / her birth month and pay the registration and miscellaneous fees every three years in any Regional Health Office/Center for Health Development;

-   The following requirements shall be presented when applying for renewal of the Certificate of Registration:

i.  Health certificate;
ii.  Current professional tax receipt;
iii. Current community tax certificate;
iv.  Receipt as payment of registration and miscellaneous fees for three years in the amount prescribed by the Department of Health;
v.  Certificate of attendance to continuing education/training on undertaking and embalming conducted by institutions/associations/trainers accredited by the Department of Health (AO 2008-0031 Form # 3 and Department Circular No. 2009-001); and
vi.  When all the requirements are found in order, the said certificate shall vii. be stamped with the notation”VALID UNTIL ______” and the receipt number of the registration fee and the signature of the Regional Health Office Director concerned shall be affixed below.

6.7.1.e  The Regional Health Office Director/CHD concerned shall submit the list of renewed licenses of undertakers and embalmers to the committee every last quarter of the year.

6.8    Suspension or Revocation of Certificate of Registration

The Committee and / or the Regional Health Office Director concerned shall recommend to the Secretary of Health to reprimand those erring embalmers or those embalmers found guilty after due process and investigation on any of the following grounds:

 i.  Conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude;
ii.  Insanity;
iii.  Fraud in the acquisition or renewal of the certificate of registration;
iv.  Gross negligence, ignorance or incompetence in the practice of his/ her occupation;
v.  Addiction to alcoholic beverages and prohibited drugs;
vi.  False or unethical advertisement and practice;
vii.  Physical incapacity which will impair the performance of the duty as undertakers and embalmers; and
viii.  Failure to revalidate the certificate of the registration for at least five (5) years; and
ix.  Other analogous grounds affecting the occupation.

Article III
Practice of Undertaking and Embalming

Section 7: Legal Functions Defined

7.1  Licensed embalmers shall practice embalming in accordance with the following:

7.1.1  No embalmer shall embalm any remains without first obtaining the corresponding death certificate duly signed by the attending physician or, in the absence of an attending physician, the city/municipal health officer and permission of the responsible  family member, provided, that, in case the death certificate is not available and to avoid delay in sanitizing the remains, the embalmer may proceed with a written “permission to embalm” executed by the attending physician or an “attestation of death” executed by a local health officer. Both documents shall contain the name of the deceased, age, sex and home address. The “permission to embalm” shall also  indicate the cause of death.

7.1.2 The said embalmer, before proceeding on his/her work, must assure himself/herself that no autopsy of the remains will be necessary for medico-legal and pathological purposes;

7.1.3 No embalmer shall embalm any dead human body that died from dangerous communicable disease as set out in Section 1.4 above.  If the embalmer is uncertain if a communicable disease case should or should not be embalmed, the same shall be reported first to the local health officer before embalming;

7.1.4 Every licensed embalmer shall certify, sign and affix his/her license number after his/her signature on the back of the death certificate stating the time and date of embalming. Failure to do so, he/she must submit to the Municipal Health Officer a sworn statement attesting that he/she did embalm the corresponding body executed before two witnesses who were present at the time of embalming;

7.1.5 No embalmer shall embalm any dead human body with any fluid or preparation of any kind containing arsenic, strychnine, mercury, or any poisonous alkaloid without special permission from the Secretary of Health or his duly authorized representative;

7.1.6 Embalming operation shall only be performed in an embalming room/ facility duly permitted to operate. Such establishment shall be free from vermin.

7.1.7 In exceptionally difficult circumstances that hinder transporting the remains to a duly permitted embalming room / facility, the unembalmed remains must be buried immediately within 48 hours. A written report shall be submitted to the local health officer by the embalmer right after;

7.1.8 Embalming operations shall only be performed in a morgue or embalming room duly permitted to operate. Such establishment shall be free from vermin. In exceptionally difficult circumstances, embalming operations may be done at the home of the deceased, provided, that intracavity or arterial injections only are used and precautions are taken to safeguard public health.  Within six (6) hours after performing an emergency embalming operation, a written report shall be submitted to the local health officer by the embalmer. Failure to do so shall subject the embalmer to sanction by the local health authority and/or the Department of Health or its duly representative.

7.1.9 Embalmers shall comply with the procedure, method of embalming and embalming fluid to be used; and other preparations promulgated by the Committee and approved by the Secretary of Health; and

7.1.10  In case of calamity, disaster or epidemic where the number of victims can no longer be attended by local embalmers, the local health authority may institute cremation or mass disinfection prior to burial.

7.2 Undertakers shall practice undertaking in accordance with the following:

7.2.1 The undertaker shall ensure that the remains are properly laid in the casket and free from odor and excess moisture to the extent possible;
7.2.2 The undertaker shall be responsible for the physical arrangements of the remains including the make-up, floral and lighting arrangement;
7.2.3 The undertaker shall prepare the burial site to meet the provision of these rules and regulations; and
7.2.4 The undertaker shall accompany the remains from the funeral parlor to the burial site.

Section 8: Autopsy and Dissection of Remains

8.1  The following persons are authorized to perform autopsy and dissection:

8.1.1 Health Officer- provincial, municipal, city health officers;
8.1.2 Medical officers of law enforcement agencies such as:

i. Philippine National Police
ii. National Bureau of Investigation

8.1.3 Members of the medical staff of accredited hospitals

8.2   Autopsies shall be performed in the following cases:

8.2.1 Whenever required by special laws. These special laws are those currently enforced by the authorities.
8.2.2 Upon order of a competent court, a mayor and a provincial or city prosecutor;
8.2.3 Upon written request of police authorities;
8.2.4 Whenever the solicitor general, provincial or city prosecutor as authorized by existing laws, shall deem it necessary to disinter and take possession of remains for examination to determine the cause of death;
8.2.5 Whenever the nearest of kin request in writing the authority concerned to ascertain the cause of death;

8.3 Requirement of the autopsies who died in accredited hospitals:

8.3.1 The director or chief of the hospital shall notify in writing the next of kin of the cause of death of the deceased and request permission to perform autopsy;
8.3.2 Autopsy can be performed when the permission is granted or when no objection is raised on such autopsy within 48 hours after death; and
8.3.3 In cases where the deceased has no next of kin, the permission shall be secured from the local health authority.

Section 9:  Human Resource Production, UtilIzation, Placement and Development

The Committee, in coordination with the accredited training institutions, accredited training providers, as well as the professional organizations, is hereby mandated to formulate and develop a comprehensive Embalmers Program indicating a continuing embalmers education (CEE) that includes a valid assessment of career performance and potential, towards upgrading the level of skills of embalmers in the country, such as but not limited to the areas of performing embalming procedures as may be determined by the Committee.

Section 10:  Salary and Compensation

In order to enhance the general welfare and commitment to service and professionalism of embalmers, the minimum base pay of licensed embalmers working in funeral parlors and areas relevant to the practice of the profession, shall not be lower than the prevailing minimum Wage Law. Provided, that for licensed embalmers working in small funeral establishments, adjustments of their salaries shall be in accordance with the number of cadavers per month as per agreement between the embalmer and the employer.

Section 11:  Penal Provision

11.1   Any person who shall practice embalming in the Philippines within the meaning of this mandate without a certificate of registration issued in accordance herewith, or any person presenting or using as his /her own certificate of registration or that of another or any person assuming, using or advertising himself/herself, as a licensed embalmer without having been conferred such title by the Department of Health, Committee of Examiners for Undertakers and Embalmers, shall be prosecuted before the Court of Justice as provided for in Section 103 (a) and (b) of the Code on Sanitation of the Philippines (PD 856).
11.2 All licensed embalmers and other personnel who shall violate the provisions of the Code on Sanitation of the Philippines (P.D 856) and these implementing rules and regulations shall be punishable by revocation / suspension of license to practice the profession, or shall be prosecuted before the Court of Justice as provided for in Section 103 (a) and (b) of the said Presidential Decree.

Section 12: Separability Clause

In the event that any rule, section, paragraph, sentence, clause or words of these implementing rules and regulations is declared invalid for any reason, the other provisions thereof shall not be affected thereby.

Section 13: Repealing Clause

All rules and regulations which are inconsistent with the provisions of these implementing rules and regulations are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

Section 14:   Effectivity

These Implementing Rules and Regulations shall take effect after fifteen (15)
days from date of publication in the official gazette or newspaper of general circulation.

Adopted: 6 December 2010


(SGD) ENRIQUE T. ONA, MD, FPCS, FACS
Secretary of Health