THREE CAYETANO HEALTH BILLS PASSED INTO LAW;
'HOSPITAL DETENTION BILL' TO BECOME LAW ON APRIL 29

Poor residents of Valenzuela, Caloocan and Marikina will soon have access to better health services as three local bills upgrading local hospitals in these cities were enacted into law recently.

The measures were authored and sponsored in the senate by Senator Pia S. Cayetano, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography.

The new laws include: Republic Act 9421 (upgrading the Valenzuela General Hospital into a 200-bed capacity tertiary hospital to be known as the Valenzuela Medical Center); Republic Act 9420 (converting 200 beds of the 2,000-bed Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium for tertiary general health care); and Republic Act 9419 (increasing the bed capacity of the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center in Marikina from 150 to 300 beds). Cayetano said the new laws will allow these health facilities not only to accommodate more indigent patients, but also expand services and acquire modern equipment.

More specifically, she said the Valenzuela General Hospital will now be able to install intensive care units, a pediatrics department, surgery medicine facilities and an emergency room for trauma cases. Meanwhile, the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, which also services leprosy patients, will be able to further expand services for treating other ailments. Finally, the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center will be able to double its bed capacity to keep with the increasing population of the city and prevent overcrowding in its wards.

At the same time, Cayetano announced that Committee Report 302, which will prohibit detention of patients in hospitals and medical clinics, will automatically lapse into law ten days from now, or on April 29, if it is not acted upon by the President.

Popularly known as the "Hospital Detention Law," the bill's principal authors include Senate President Manny Villar, Senator Serge Osmea and Cayetano herself. It will make it unlawful for any hospital or medical clinic to detain patients who have fully or partially recovered or who have died for reasons of non-payment of hospital bills and medical expenses.

"The issue is very close to my father (the late Senator Compañero Rene L. Cayetano) and myself because it was one of the most common complaints we received from the people back when we were hosting 'Compañero y Compañera' in the nineties," shares the lady senator, referring to the popular public service radio show that gave legal advice to listeners.

Under the proposed law, patients who are ready to be discharged from the hospital but are financially incapable to settle their hospitalization expenses and professional fees, will be allowed to leave upon the execution of a promissory note covering the unpaid obligation.

Meanwhile, four more health and environment bills that were authored and sponsored by Cayetano are now also waiting to be signed into law, including:

1. Senate Bill No.2600 or the "Oil Pollution Compensation Act of 2007" Institutes a mechanism for the prevention, abatement, mitigation and control of oil pollution within the territorial boundaries of the country. It creates an Oil Pollution Management Fund (OPMF), which will be created to cover containment and cleanup operations by the Philippine Coast Guard in the case of an oil spill. Requires any person who has received more than 150,000 tons of contributing oil in a calendar through carriage by sea to report and pay contributions to the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPC) in accordance with the provisions of the 1992 IOPC Fund Convention.

2. Senate Bill No. 2541 or the "National Anti-Rabies Bill of 2007" - Makes it mandatory for dog owners to have their pets immunized against rabies and registered with their local government unit. It mandates the establishment of local dog pounds which will house stray and unvaccinated dogs, and launches an information and education campaign on rabies prevention and control, provisions on pre-exposure treatment to high risk personnel and post-exposure treatment to animal bite victims, and the encouragement of the practice of responsible dog ownership.

3. Senate Bill No.2012 "Mandatory Hepa-B Immunization" Expands the reach of the national immunization program by making basic immunization services against Hepatitis-B mandatory for infants within 24 hours after childbirth.

4. SBN 2532 or "The Cebu Central Protected Landscape Act of 2007" - Consolidates the management of Cebu province's five remaining forest areas and critical watersheds to be known as the "Cebu Central Protected Landscape." It creates a single policy-making body, called the Central Cebu Protected Landscape-Protected Area Management Board (CCPL-PAMB), which will oversee the following areas: Sudlon National Park, Cebu Central National Park, Mananga River Watershed Forest Reserve, Kotkot-Lusaran Watershed Forest Reserve and Buhisan Watershed Forest Reserve. Co-sponsored with Cebu Reps. Eduardo Gullas (1D, Cebu Province) and Raul Del Mar (1D, Cebu City) and Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Joel Virador.

Cayetano said there's still much work to be done and that it was still possible for other relevant measures to be passed under the 13th Congress.

"I hope we can still approve a few more important measures before the 13th Congress adjourns, like the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act, which is my main advocacy," she said. "I also hope we'll have enough time to approve the bill lowering drug prices which I co-authored with Sen. Mar Roxas III, and several other pending measures seeking to create protected areas in different provinces across the country."