Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
17% CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No, 4559

Introduced by Representative Wes Gatchalian

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Philippine Constitution provides that “The State shall protect and promote
the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them":

Also, Art. XIII, Sec. 11, in particular states that “The State shall adopt an
integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall
endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services available to
all the people at affordable cost. There shall be priority for the needs of the
underprivileged, sick, elderly, disabled, women, and children. Thé State shall
endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers’,

Consequently, the government must ensure that specialty hospitals (level 3)
should be widely distributed geographically across the country being an
archipelagic state instead of its concentration in the National Capital Region.

The Philippine Heart Center for one, is a specialty hospital and research center
with the most modern facilities and state of the art equipment for heart and
related diseases in the country. It has gained the reputations as one of the best
Congenital Heart Surgery Centers not only in the Philippines but in the ASEAN
Region as well, Yet, its location is not as comprehensive or accessible to many
Filipinos in the Visayas and Mindanao,

In a country such as the Philippines, which is archipelagic in nature, the
concern of decentralizing the national government from the National Capital
Region should be addr d. Concomitantly, through the establishment of
public specialty hospitals, particularly the Philippine Heart Center in Visayas



and Mindanao, we can address the needs of less fortunate citizens who are
given the additional burden of travelling to Metro Manila.

This bill therefore seeks to address the noticeable disparity in terms of
hospital locations by establishing it ilities in the Visayas and Mindanao to
improve the much needed medical care and services across the country
thereby giving hope to every Filipinos wherever situated.

The immediate passage of this bill is therefore earnestly sought.

Representative
1s District, Valefzuela City


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
17% CONGRESS
First Regular Session

o 4559

House Bill No.

Introduced by Representative Wes Gatchalian

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING THE VISAYAS AND MINDANAO HOSPITAL FACILITIES OF
THE PHILIPPINE HEART CENTER, AMENDING FOR THAT PURPOSE
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO, 673, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR , AND
OTHER PURPOSES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

Section 1, Section 1 of Presidential Decree No. 673, is hereby amended to read as
follows:

Section 1.Creation of the Philippine Heart Center; Board of
Trustees. There is hereby created a trust, for the benefit primarily of

the Filipino people, under the name and style of Philippine Heart



The Philippine Heart Center shall be administered by a Board of
Trustees, composed of seven (7) members, to be appointed by the
President of the Philippines who shall be the Governing Board of
all the PHC Hospitals wherever situated. The Executive Director

of the Center shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees.

The six appointive members of the Board of Trustees shall serve
without compensation for a period of four (4) years and until their
successors shall have been appointed and qualified. Any vacancy in
the Board shall be filled by appointment by the President of the
Philippines, and the appointee shall serve for the unexpired term,
The Board of Trustees of the Philippine Heart Center shall elect a
Chairman from among themselves, who shall be presiding officer of
the Board of Trustees,

The Executive Director of the Philippine Heart Center shall serve as
Vice-Chairman of the Board. ‘The Executive Director shall act as the
chief executive officer of the Philippine Heart Center, with authority,
among others, to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of the
personnel thereof, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees

Four (4) members of the Board of Trustees shall constitute a quorum
transact business and any decision of such four members on any
matter duly presented to the Board of Trustees shall constitute a
valid and binding act of the Philippine Heart Center

The_H. Director for Vi nao_Hospital
Facilities shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees on the

is of search process for a peri i ars and until
their successors shall hav i nd qualified with a

reappointment,

Section 2. Funding. To carry out the purpose of this Act, including the operation of
PHC-Visayas, and the PHC-Mindanao, the land acquisition, construction, and the acquisition
of hospital equipments, furniture and fixtures, the sum of One Billion (1,000,000,000.00)
pesos for each hospital is hereby appropriated. Thereafter the expenses for the PHC-
Visayas and PHC-Mindanao shall be provided in the General Appropriations Acts intended
for the Philippine Heart Center.

Section 3. Implementing Rules and Regulations.- The Board of Trustees shall
formulate the implementing rules and regulations to carry out the implementation of this
Act.

Section 4. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any provision of this Act is
declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other parts or provisions hereof which are not
affected shall continue to be in full force and effect,


Section 5. Repealing Clause. ~ All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or
portions thereof, inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 6. Effectivity. ~ This Act shall take effect on the day following its complete
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation,

Adopted,