MAY 20, 2015

NR # 3837

House approves on 3rd reading bills seeking to establish & upgrade

hospitals in the country
The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading several bills
seeking to create and upgrade hospitals in the country to provide more medical services to
the people and improve their health status.
The House approved on third and final reading proposals to establish and upgrade
district hospitals in Nueva Ecija, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.
Among the approved measures on Tuesday is House Bill 5635 filed by Rep.
Estrellita B. Suansing (1st District, Nueva Ecija), seeking to establish a 25-bed capacity
district hospital in the Municipality of Zaragoza in the first district of Nueva Ecija to be
known as the Zaragoza District Hospital.
Suansing said currently there is no existing private or government-funded hospital
in the municipality of Zaragoza, which means that in cases when urgent medical care is
needed, the patient has to be transported to another facility outside of the municipality, the
nearest of which is 15 kilometers away.
In a matter of life and death, 15 kilometers would surely mean death.
Establishment of the hospital would ensure the people of Zaragoza of immediate access to
good and quality health care, said Suansing, a vice chairperson of the Committee on
Women and Gender Equality.
Moreover, Suansing said her proposal complements the governments program to
improve and deliver universal health care for its people and Section 15, Article ll of the
Constitution which provides that the State shall protect and promote the right of the people
to health.
Also approved was House Bill 5636 filed by Rep. Joseph Gilbert F. Violago (2 nd
District, Nueva Ecija) seeking to establish a 100-bed capacity district hospital in San Jose
City, Nueva Ecija to be known as the Dr. Eleuterio R. Violago District Hospital.
The hospital establishment will guarantee accessibility of critical and essential
medical services to the people of Nueva Ecija and most especially the poor and
marginalized families. This is in consonance to our sworn duty of giving life to the
constitutional mandate of making essential goods, especially quality health and social
services, affordable and accessible to all people, said Violago, a vice chairman of the
Committee on Appropriations.

The House likewise approved HB 5664 authored by Rep. Bai Sandra A. Sema (1 st
District, Maguindanao and Cotabato City) seeking to increase the bed capacity of the
Dinaig Municipal Hospital in the Municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao,
from 10 to 50 beds, to be now known as the Datu Odin Sinsuat District Hospital.
Sema, a vice chairperson of the Committees on Muslim Affairs and on
Appropriations, said the Dinaig Municipal Hospital was created by virtue of Republic Act
No. 6918 enacted in 1990. After more than two decades, its bed capacity remains to be 10
in spite of the fact that the population of the municipality has grown from 52,370 in 1990
and 71,569 in 2000 to 107,765 at present according to her.
The average number of hospital patients today has gone beyond its ten-bed
capacity. In view of the Constitutional provision guaranteeing the right to health of the
people and instilling health consciousness among them, it is high time that the bed
capacity of the Dinaig Municipal Hospital be increased from 10 to 25, said Sema.
Earlier, the House also approved on third reading and transmitted to the Senate HB
5436, authored by Rep. Ansaruddin A.M.A. Adiong (1st District, Lanao del Sur), which
seeks to upgrade the Amai Pakpak Medical Center (APMC) in Marawi City in Lanao del
Sur from a 200 to a 350-bed capacity tertiary hospital.
Adiong said the APMC has to provide medical and health services to more than one
million people in Lanao del Sur alone. With the upgrading, the APMC will be able to
provide a more integrated, comprehensive approach and effective quality health care
services not only to residents of Lanao del Sur but also those from nearby communities in
the Muslim Mindanao Region, said Adiong.
Meanwhile, the House, upon endorsement by the Committee on Appropriations
chaired by Rep. Isidro T. Ungab (3rd District, Davao City) and the Committee on Health
chaired by Rep. Eufranio C. Eriguel, M.D. (2nd District, La Union), approved on second
reading HB 5710, authored by Rep. Frederick F. Abueg (2 nd District, Palawan), seeking to
increase the bed capacity of the Narra Municipal Hospital in Palawan from 10 to 100 and
for the hospital to be known as The Governor Alfredo M. Abueg, Sr. Memorial Hospital.
Abueg said the second district of Palawan is one of the poorest districts in the
country and does not have any hospital under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health
(DOH). While a hospital was established in the Municipality of Balabac, Palawan, he said
this has not been operational for many years.
Abueg, a vice chairman of the Committee on Food Security, said approval of the
bill will address the health needs of his constituents. He said he does not want the sick
people in his district to die in their homes due to lack of affordable hospitals in the area
and does not want the patients to be traveling more than 300 kilometers to reach Puerto
Princesa City for medical support. (30) rbb