Romualdez refiles bill creating US-type CDC

MANILA, Philippines — Incoming speaker Martin Romualdez has refiled the bill previously passed by the House of Representatives seeking to create a United States-type Center for Disease Control (CDC) medical facility to better prepare the country for future pandemics.

“We hope that with the opening of the 19th Congress, this important measure will again be prioritized by our chamber and finally be passed into law, so that the country will be better equipped should another pandemic hit us,” Romualdez said.

“We have learned our lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and this measure will ensure our stronger response and preparedness to any public health emergency,” he added.

Among the reelected Leyte congressman’s co-authors in House Bill No. 9 are his wife Yedda Marie and neophyte Jude Acidre, who both represent Tingog party-list.

The proposed “Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control Act” is a consolidation of 13 House bills establishing the CDC that were referred to the House committee on health during the previous 18th Congress (July 2019-June 2022).

Romualdez, the majority leader in the previous Congress, said the proposed measure would better prepare the country against public health emergencies, through health modernization and institutional reforms.

Reelected Reps. Mikee Romero of 1Pacman party-list and Paolo Duterte of Davao City have also filed their advocacy bills in the chamber, among them the putting up of a specialty hospital for poor cancer patients and e-learning centers nationwide, respectively.

“There is a need to establish a specialty hospital at the national level to further enhance the noble undertaking of the government and likewise complement the already existing cancer control law,” Romero said.

In filing HB 340, he explained that while there were provisions stipulated in the National Integrated Cancer Control Act to establish cancer centers on the regional health care level, there is still a need to create a “specialty hospital on the national level dedicated to cancer.”

Meanwhile, the lawmaker-son of former president Rodrigo Duterte believes in the necessity of establishing e-learning centers across the country, especially since the movements of students have been restricted due to the two-year global pandemic.

“It shall serve as a venue wherein people from all walks of life could have access to information and communication technologies. This shall benefit not just the youth but also adults who seek to gain further knowledge and develop new skills,” the younger Duterte said.

He recognized the imminent need for accessibility and availability of alternative modes of learning to at least alleviate the repercussions of the pandemic not only in terms of the quality of the educational system, but also to the well-being of the students and teachers.

“To eradicate these hindrances in our educational system, this bill seeks to establish at least one e-learning center in every municipality and city in the country,” Duterte said in filing HB 453.

Legislative agenda

Amid these developments, a former House official yesterday underscored the need for both houses of Congress to support the legislative agenda of President Marcos in the next six years.

“Congress ought to support the President’s economic agenda by passing laws essential to rebuilding the economy, spurring the creation of jobs, encouraging MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and reducing poverty,” former deputy speaker Isidro Ungab said.

Ungab emphasized the significance of having a “well-crafted economic framework and fiscal program geared toward achieving inclusive and sustainable development, responsive to the aspirations of the Filipino people.”

The Davao City lawmaker, who used to head the powerful House appropriations committee, made the remarks as he lauded the Department of Finance’s recent launching of its Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF), describing it as “very promising.”

“I believe this will be our country’s pivotal point towards the trajectory of resilient economic recovery. This MTFF and the government’s updated medium-term macroeconomic assumptions and fiscal program are what we need to guide us during these difficult times,” he said.

“I fully agree with the PBBM administration that this is a good game plan in facing the challenges wrought by the pandemic, the ongoing geopolitical conflicts and the high inflation rate, among others,” he added.

This developed as four lawmakers from Camarines Sur, led by reelected Rep. LRay Villafuerte, supported Romualdez’s “priority plan” to accelerate the Marcos administration’s digital transformation.

Villafuerte, his son Miguel and fellow CamSur Congressman Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata, along with neophyte Rep. Nicolas Enciso VIII of party-list Bicol Saro, filed HB 277 aimed at enhancing further the e-government project.

The bill will “further improve the ease of doing business and brush-up the country’s image as a top investment haven, while letting Filipinos continue transacting business without actually having to go to various government agencies themselves in the post-COVID 19 scenario,” according to Villafuerte

Villafuerte first filed an e-government bill way back in the 17th Congress (2016-2019), or even before the pandemic struck in 2020, to improve the ease of doing business, promote greater transparency and do away with corruption in official transactions.

In HB 277, Villafuerte said “the Marcos government ought to fully utilize the newly created DICT to integrate Information and Communications Technology development in all state offices instead of having agency-specific applications.”

The four Bicol authors said the adoption of these six components of the master plan would enhance the access to and delivery of government services to bring about efficient, responsive, ethical, accountable and transparent government service.