Baguio City councilor Lilia Fariñas just proposed a city ordinance that would require funeral parlors to hire female embalmers and morticians to deal with female cadavers, reports Justin Aguilar on ABS-CBN News Online.
Fariñas explained that the ordinance aims to "protect the rights of those who are dead, especially women." She added that "there was a clamor from bereaved families for funeral parlors to exercise gender sensitivity."
However, representatives from different funeral parlors pointed out that it's difficult to find women who want to work as embalmers. On top of that, they also said it takes a long time (two to three months) to process embalmers' licenses from the Department of Health's central office in Manila.
The ordinance stipulates that "funeral parlors who violate its provisions will be fined P1,000 on first offense, P3,000 on second offense, and P5,000 on third offense." Moreover, the funeral parlor could also lose its business permit.