THE House of Representatives on Wednesday night approved on final reading three of President Duterte’s priority measures aimed at improving the country’s ability to respond to public health emergencies.
Approved were the proposed Health Procurement and Stockpiling Act (House Bill No. 9456), Virology Institute of the Philippines (VIP) Act (HB 9559),” and “Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) Act” or HB 9560.
The three measures were among those mentioned by the President in his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday.
“COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic and global health emergency, so we need to be prepared to deal with the next one,” Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said. “These three legislative measures that we passed today will help the country to better prepare for and respond to future outbreaks effectively.”
The House unanimously approved HB No. 9456 which will allow government to “stockpile, conserve, and facilitate the supply and distribution of pharmaceuticals and vaccines for public health emergencies.”
Also approved unanimously was HB No. 9559 which aims to establish an institute that will conduct in-depth studies on viruses and their potential disease-causing agents that affect people, plants and animals to provide scientific bases for the treatment of viral diseases.
The institute would also formulate policies geared at preventing the transmission of diseases within the community and national context.
HB No. 9560 seeks to establish the Philippine CDC under the Department of Health to put in place a technical authority on all matters regarding disease prevention and control.
The House also approved on third and final reading other bills of national significance, =including HB 9147 regulating the production and use of single-use plastics; HB 9171 which imposes a P20 excise tax for every kilogram of plastic bags from place of production or released from the custody of Bureau of Customs; and HB 7407 institutionalizing the participation of civil society organizations in the annual budget process.
HB 9147 provides for the gradual phase out of single-use plastics, which refer to “plastic products designed to be disposed, destroyed, or recycled, after only one use.”
Once the bill is enacted, non-compostable single-use plastic products shall be phased out within one year. These are drinking straws; stirrers; sticks for candy, balloons and cotton buds; buntings; confetti; and packaging or bags of less than 10 microns in thickness.
Other single-use plastic products such as plates and saucers; cups, bowls and lids; cutlery like spoons, forks, knives and chopsticks; food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene; oxo-degradable plastics; film wrap, packaging or bags of less than 50 microns in thickness; and sachets and pouches that are multilayered with other materials shall be phased out within four years.
Thereafter, the production, importation, sale, distribution, provision or use of the said plastic products shall be prohibited.
However, properly labeled flexible disposable plastic drinking straws for persons with special conditions shall be allowed, when no suitable reusable or compostable alternatives are available.
