SC okays inclusion of interment services in senior citizen discount
THE Supreme Court (SC) has approved the grant of a 20% discount on interment services for senior citizens as covered by Republic Act 7432 or the Senior Citizens Act as amended.
The decision came after a legal battle between the government and Pryce Corporation, Inc. over the inclusion of interment services in the senior citizen discount.
The Cagayan de Oro City Regional Trial Court initially ruled in favor of Pryce, stating that interment services are not covered by the discount since it was not explicitly mentioned in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 7432.
The RTC held that the service of interment was not included as one of the benefits covered by the discount since the IRR only mentioned the services of purchase of casket or urn, embalming, hospital morgue, and transport of the body to the intended burial site.
But the SC reversed that decision, stating that interment services are included in the discount as they are part of the burial process.
Interment services include, but not limited to, digging the land or memorial lot for the deceased person’s grave, concreting, and other services being done during the actual burial.
It emphasized that the Senior Citizens Act was created to provide benefits to elderly citizens, and it would be unreasonable to exclude interment services from that.
