Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ___________ 
INTRODUCED BY REP. JOSE “BONG” J. TEVES, JR. 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The onset of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has challenged the public health capabilities 
of every country worldwide as their people contract the deadly virus while waiting for the 
availability of the vaccines. This exposed the deficiencies in the health care system in 
governments around the world to fight an unexpected contagious disease.  
In the Philippines, with one hundred ten (110) million population, the pandemic 
exposed the lack of health care workers in the country.  Our Department of Health noted that 
our country lacks health care workers to match with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 
target ratio of ten (10) medical doctor per ten thousand (10,000) population1. On the average 
the Philippines has 3.7 doctors per 10,000 population. The migration of our medical health care 
force to other countries also contributed to this high deficiency.  
This proposed bill aims to create a Medical Reserve Corps to augment the existing 
health care force in our country by organizing retired physicians, medical students graduate, 
and other licensed allied health professionals to the corps.  
1 https://up.edu.ph/estimating-local-healthcare-capacity-to-deal-with-covid-19-case-surge-analysis-and-
recommendations/ 
November 8, 2022
9:51 am
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The proposed measure is likewise in consonance with Section 15, Article II of the 1987 
Philippine Constitution which states: “The State shall protect and promote the right to health 
of the people and instill health consciousness among them.” 
 
 
 
In view of the foregoing, the immediate approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HON. JOSE “BONG” J. TEVES, JR. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                 Representative 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                 TGP Party-List 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ___________ 
INTRODUCED BY REP. JOSE “BONG” J. TEVES, JR. 
AN ACT 
CREATING A MEDICAL RESERVE CORPS AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS 
THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Medical Reserve Corps 
Act of 2022”. 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – In consonance with the 1987 Constitution, it is the 
policy of the State to protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health 
consciousness among them.  
The State recognizes the need for a reserve force of highly skilled and medically trained 
professionals and volunteers who can me mobilized to maintain the capacity to meet surges in 
the demand for the country’s healthcare system and provide assistance as may be needed in 
times of health crises.  
Pursuant to this, it is the policy of the State to maintain a strong, proactive, and 
responsive healthcare system at all times, the workforce complement of which can be expanded 
rapidly by a well-trained and well-equipped Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) in times of public 
health emergency and health threats. Towards this end, the State shall enhance the capacity of 
the nation to produce and call on the needed manpower and expand its human health resources 
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in times of disasters and public health emergencies of both national and local scale through the 
mobilization of the MRC. 
 
 
 
SEC. 3. Medical Reserve Corps Service. – It is hereby established a MRC whose 
primary mission is to support the country’s health system in times of public health emergencies 
or health threats, and which shall be composed of the following: 
 
a. Licensed physicians including those who are retired and those who are no 
longer practicing in the hospital setting. The Department of Health (DOH) 
may coordinate and collaborate with the accredited integrated professional 
organization or accredited professional organization of physicians for the 
engagement of private practitioners; 
 
b.  Medical students who have completed four (4) years of medical course, 
graduates of medicine, and registered nurses who may be issued by the 
Secretary of Health with a limited and special authorization to render 
medical service pursuant to Republic Act No. 2382, otherwise known as the 
Medical Act of 1959; and 
 
c. Licensed allied health professionals. 
 
The MRC shall be organized, trained, developed, and maintained as to ensure their 
readiness to immediately respond to the call to service. 
 
 
 
SEC. 4. Organization. –  The MRC shall be under the control and supervision of the 
Health Emergency Management Bureau (HEMB) of the DOH. 
 
 
The DOH shall develop an effective and efficient MRC organization and structure that 
is responsive to national and local disasters and other public health emergencies, under such 
rules and regulations as the Secretary of Health may prescribe. 
 


 
SEC. 5. Registration and Training. – The DOH shall draft guidelines for the 
recruitment, selection, compensation, and provision of incentives for joining and continued 
membership, and length of service of the MRC members. 
 
 
The DOH shall also prescribe a continuing training program for the MRC recruits and 
members, through written, practical, and simulation activities on various aspects of health 
emergency management and response and on the different health emergency situations and 
scenarios, such as natural and man-made disasters, epidemics, pandemics, and other threats to 
public health. To this end, all recruits must undergo: 
 
a. Compulsory basic training for a period to be set by the DOH on disaster and 
health emergency response, the organization and structure of the MRC, and 
such other areas as may be prescribed by the DOH. Recruits shall be given 
compensation for their attendance thereto; and 
 
b. Continuing training and other activities to be conducted in coordination with 
relevant and qualified agencies in the private and public sector, including 
the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the National Disaster Risk 
Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), to improve and reinforce 
skills. All registered members shall undergo continuing training on a regular 
basis to upgrade their proficiency. 
 
Successful completion of the compulsory basic training shall be a requisite for 
admission into the MRC. Successful completion of activities in the continuing program shall 
be a requisite for promotion within the MRC. 
 
 
 
SEC. 6. Registry and Accounting of Members of the MRC. – Registered members 
of the MRC shall be issued individual serial numbers which will serve as their identification in 
case of deployment. 
 
 
The DOH shall maintain and update a registry or database containing the names of the 
members of the Corps, their serial numbers, address, contact details and such other information 


as the DOH may determine, in accordance with applicable privacy laws. For this purpose, all 
public and private colleges, universities and learning institutions shall transmit annually their 
records of the graduates covered under this Act to the DOH. 
 
 
An MRC identification card that describes the certification information of Corps 
members, as well as other necessary identifying information that may be determined by the 
DOH shall also be issued. 
 
 
All graduates covered under this Act are required to update their addresses and contact 
details on file with the DOH as often as necessary. Orders of deployment sent to the addresses 
and/or through the contact details on file with the DOH shall be sufficient notice for purposes 
of deployment.  
 
 
In case when a graduate has changed address immediately prior to deployment, the local 
government unit (LGU) shall immediately exert efforts to locate his known closest resident 
kin, who is then mandated to exert similar efforts. The use of digital communications and social 
medial shall be encouraged in locating such graduates. 
 
 
 
SEC. 7. Medical Reserve Corps Mobilization. – The prompt mobilization of the MRC 
shall be carried out by authority of the Secretary of Health upon the recommendation of the 
Director of the HEMB or upon the request of national government agencies or LGUs in order 
to meet the needs of the populace in times of public health emergencies, whether of local or 
national scale, and for such other purposes in response to threats to public health. 
 
 
The MRC may be mobilized partially or in full as may be necessary. The DOH shall 
promulgate the mechanisms by which deployment is efficiently implemented, including the 
organization of the Corps to be deployed, their territorial assignments, how deployment orders 
are communicated to each member of the Corps and to which mobilization center they will 
report. 
 


 
As defined in Republic Acct No. 11332, otherwise known as the “Mandatory Reporting 
of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act”, public health 
emergency refers to an occurrence or imminent threat of an illness or health condition that: 
 
(1) Is caused by any of the following: 
a. Bio terrorism; 
b. Appearance of a novel or previously controlled or eradicated 
infectious agent or biological toxin; 
c. A natural disaster; 
d. A chemical attack or accidental release; 
e. A nuclear attack or accident; or 
f. An attack or accidental release of radioactive materials; and 
 
(2) Poses a high probability of any of the following: 
a. A large number of deaths in the affected population; 
b. A large number of serious injuries or long-term disabilities in the 
affected population; 
c. Widespread exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a 
significant risk of substantial harm to a large number of people in 
the affected population; 
d. International exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a 
significant risk to health of citizens of other countries; or 
e. Trade and travel restrictions. 
 
 
 
SEC. 8. Deployment Order. – The President of the Philippines, upon recommendation 
of the DOH, may order the nationwide mobilization of the MRC to complement the AFP 
Medical Corps in case of a declaration of a state of war,  state of lawless violence or state of 
calamity. 
 
 
SEC. 9. Mobilization Centers. – There shall be established in each province as many 
mobilization centers as needed to which members of the MRC shall report to when 
mobilization is ordered. 


 
Mobilization centers may be any establishment or facility that can adequately house the 
MRC members, and their equipment and supplies during the period of deployment, including 
multi-purpose halls, gymnasiums, and other similar structures, based on other requirements 
that the DOH shall prescribe. The DOH shall, in consultation with the local executives, 
prescribe the location of the mobilization centers. The local executives shall disseminate to the 
widest extent possible information to the public on the location of these centers. 
 
 
SEC. 10. Mobilization Stock. – The minimum essential individual and organizational 
and medical equipment and supplies shall be procured, stored, and maintained to enhance rapid 
transition to readiness required for employment in the shortest possible time. 
 
 
The DOH shall ensure and maintain the necessary capacity to scale up the procurement 
of these equipment and supplies as needed during the period of mobilization. 
 
 
SEC. 11. Enlistment of the AFP. – The Secretary of Health may enlist the AFP to 
provide expertise on the organization and structure of the MRC for efficient, effective, and 
swift deployment, as well as for training of the MRC recruits on disaster and emergency 
response. 
 
 
 
The Secretary of Health may also recommend to the President the enlistment of AFP to 
supplement the mobilized MRC for the purpose of providing logistics and manpower for large-
scale operations in times of public health emergency, contact tracing and monitoring of 
suspected cases, enforcing quarantine measures in specific areas or facilitating the transport of 
emerging infectious disease patients, and for such other related purposes. 
 
 
 
SEC. 12. Protection of MRC Members. – All MRC members shall be accorded 
protection as provided by existing labor laws and standards and other relevant occupations, 
safety, environmental, and social legislation. 
 
 
 
SEC. 13. Compensation and Benefits. – Members of the MRC who render service 
shall receive all the pay and allowances, medical care, hospitalization, other privileges and 


benefits during the period of mobilization as prescribed by law or regulation. They shall also 
continue to receive all pay, allowances, and other privileges and benefits from their regular 
employment during the mobilization period in accordance with law. 
 
 
 
SEC. 14. Legal Liability and Malpractice Insurance. – No MRC member shall be 
held liable for the death of or injury to any person or for the loss of, or damage to, the property 
of any person where such death, injury, loss, or damage was proximately caused by the 
circumstance of an actual public health emergency or its subsequent conditions, or the 
circumstance of the formal exercise or training if such formal exercise or training simulates 
conditions of an actual emergency. 
 
 
The Insurance Commission is mandated to develop public health emergency specific 
malpractice insurance policy or modify existing policies that would protect MRC 
professionals’ efforts from any legal liability as provided for by this Section to allow them to 
respond in good faith during public health emergencies. 
 
 
This Section shall not preclude liability for civil damages as a result of gross negligence, 
recklessness, or willful misconduct. 
 
 
 
SEC. 15. Termination of Deployment. – Upon the expiration of the period of 
deployment, without an extension having been requested and approved by the DOH, members 
of the MRC who are deployed pursuant to a public health emergency shall be discharged from 
the performance of their duties. The deployment may also be terminated earlier upon a 
determination by the DOH, in consultation with the requesting national government agency or 
LGU, that such deployment is no longer required in accordance with this Act. 
 
 
 
 
SEC. 16. Annual Reports. – The DOH shall regularly publish an annual report 
containing a list of accomplishments, status of the operations, demographic profile of the 
membership of the MRC, an assessment of readiness for mobilization, and the incidence and 
details of each mobilization for the year concerned. The annual report shall also include the 


results of the audit investigation on the spending of funds appropriated, collected, or advanced 
for the implementation of the provisions of this Act. 
 
 
 
 
SEC. 17. Failure to Respond to Deployment. – Any member of the MRC who fails 
to respond to the order of deployment without any justifiable reason despite due notice shall be 
required to reimburse the total expenses incurred by the government in the member’s 
recruitment, selection, training, and compensation, as may be determined by the DOH.  
 
 
 
SEC. 18. Appropriations. – The Secretary of Health shall immediately include in the 
Department’s program the implementation of this Act, the funding of which shall be included 
in the annual General Appropriations Act. 
 
 
 
SEC. 19. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within thirty (30) days from the 
effectivity of this Act, the DOH shall promulgate the necessary guideless for the effective 
implementation of this Act. 
 
 
 
SEC. 20. Separability Clause. – If any provisions of this Act is declared 
unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the validity of the other provisions shall not be affected 
thereby. 
 
 
 
SEC. 21. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, orders, rules, and requlations, other 
issuances, or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or 
modified accordingly. 
 
 
 
SEC. 22. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
Approved,