AN administration lawmaker yesterday urged the Senate to pass its own version of a House-approved bill seeking the creation of the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines (VVIP) to better prepare the country for outbreaks or other public health emergencies such as the almost three-year COVID-19 pandemic.
The House of Representatives approved the consolidated version of the bill on final reading before the 19th Congress went on its month-long Christmas break. The establishment of the VVIP as the country’s premier research and development (R&D) institute on all kinds of viruses and viral diseases in humans, animals and plants is contained in the consolidated House Bill 6452, which the bigger chamber had approved by a 216-0 vote with no abstention.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, one of the bill’s authors, appealed to senators to work on the measure’s passage when Congress resumes session on January 23.
Villafuerte, the president of the National Unity Party, said the speedy approval of the consolidated bill was assured because, on top of the VIP bill’s inclusion in the common legislative agenda of Malacañang and Congress, the Executive Department has already set aside an initial P669.3 million plus a five-hectare lot for its research and development projects and facilities at the New Clark City in Tarlac.
“The VVIP bill is a low-hanging fruit for Congress to pick, considering that the government has already set aside a starting outlay of almost P670 million for construction works and its initial R&D undertakings along with a five-hectare lot for its facilities at the NCC in Tarlac,” Villafuerte said.
The bill and 18 other measures were endorsed by President Marcos Jr in his first State of the Nation Address last July when he proposed that Congress pass legislation creating the VVIP as an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology.
The House-approved bill contains a provision proposing a virology research fund as part of efforts to transform the Philippines into “a self-reliant, vaccine-producing country much better prepared to deal with future public health emergencies.”
Under the bill, the VVIP is mandated to focus on the following key development areas for virology science and technology applications: research on viruses using a modern approach such as molecular biology and its application or biotechnology; development of diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics (molecular biotechnology); international cooperation and network of databases of virus infection; operation and maintenance of a virus gene bank, virus genome laboratory and virus reference laboratory to focus on viruses circulating in the Philippines for disease prevention and epidemiological studies; and operation and maintenance of a virus high containment laboratory dedicated to the study of highly infectious and highly pathogenic viruses.
