House gives in to Senate on cheap medicine bill

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives finally caved in to pressure from the hard-liner Senate to delete its “generics only” provision in the Cheaper Medicine Bill of 2008, and would instead file a separate measure that would strengthen the otherwise inefficient Generics Law.

In an official statement, Speaker Prospero Nograles declared that they have “agreed to do away with the generics only provision” to “break the impasse,” and would rather focus on amending or strengthening Republic Act 6675, or the Generics Law passed in the early 1990s.

“We have decided to do away with the generics only provision and would instead come out with a separate measure to further strengthen the Generics Law just to break the stalemate,” he said.

“Somebody has to give way just to ensure the enactment of the Cheaper Medicine Act so the House agreed to set aside the generics only provision when we finalize the reconciled version in bicameral conference committee,” Nograles explained.

At the same time, he also said that the measure would be enacted into law before May 1, when the country celebrates Labor Day. “This will be the gift of Congress and the President to the Filipino people on Labor Day.”

Nograles stressed that the House gave in to the hard-line position of the Senate to remove the “generics only” provision upon the assurance of the senators that this will not have any adverse effect on the intent of the law, which is to bring down the cost of medicine.

“We opted to accept the position of the Senate upon their assurance that we will still have cheaper medicine even if we remove the generics only provision,” the Speaker reiterated.

Earlier, lawmakers - including the author of the Cheaper Medicines Act – have remained open to the exclusion of the generics-only provision in the proposed measure, as per the directive of President Arroyo to the Department of Health.

Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron, the main author of the measure, left the matter to his colleagues in the House of Representatives’ contingent in the bicameral conference committee. “It will be up to the House contingent to consider seriously the pronouncement of GMA.”

“Assuming the generics only provision is scrapped to expedite the passage of this bill, it will not make the bill any weaker. For as long as the price regulation stays, the consumers are assured of quantifiable reduction in the cost of life-savings medicine,” he said.

Biron’s colleague in the panel, Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez who heads the House committee on trade and is co-chair of the bicam, shared the same view. “That (GMA’s orders) directive will have to be considered collectively by the entire committee.”

“I will have to consult with my other colleagues as that provision on the generics only prescription was unanimously approved by the House,” the senior administration lawmaker said in a statement.

Alvarez also revealed that even without the presidential directive, “the House and the Senate have already moved toward a middle ground, since the Senate version did not carry that provision.”

He also revealed that resource persons like former Health secretary Quasi Romualdez were so “passionate in defending it, and in no instance was the need for that provision demolished or even doubted by the parade of experts that appeared before the joint committee.”

Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao took the same position. “Fine by me. I think the parallel importation permitted by the cheaper medicine bill should be substantive enough to considerably lower prices of medicine sans the generics only provision.” – With Christina Paguinto and Jose Miguel Reyes