Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

* CONGRESS
Ist Regular Session

nouse BL No2132

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE JENNIFER A. LAGBAS

EXPLANATORY NOTE

With the enactment of Republic Act No. 7719, otherwise known as the National Blood Services Act of
1994, all commercial blood banks were phased out, and in its place. voluntary non-remunerated
donation of blood was encouraged to ensure an adequate, safe, affordable, and equitable supply of blood
and blood products for Filipinos.

[All government hospitals, including those that have been devolved, established voluntary blood
donation programs, while private hospitals, particularly tertiary hospitals, were also encouraged to
establish their voluntary blood donation programs.

{At present, however, the Philippine National Red Cross is still the acknowledged primary source and
provider of donated blood, with more than 100 operational blood service facilities across the country.

‘The remaining sources of blood supply come from government hospitals. non-hospital-based facilities,
and national reference laboratories such as the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and
the National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI).

‘The shortage of available blood has been a long lingering issue that needs to be addressed immediately,
more so today in the face of emerging threats of blood-borne infections, which include HIV and dengue
fever.

We experienced a predicament firsthand during the COVID-19 pandemic, when a considerable drop in
the total number of blood donors from 2019 to 2020 was recorded, causing our country’s blood supply
to plunge down to nearly critical levels.

‘This bill therefore seeks to establish a modem and efficient blood services network across all the
administrative regions of the country, along with state-of-the-art transfusion services, advanced
management of blood supplies, and the development and implementation of an efficient program for
collecting and providing blood services and products to all Filipinos.

This measure aims to complement the spirit and intent of Republic Act No. 7719 with the establishment
of an online registry of blood donors, an accurate inventory of blood as available, and the means of
transporting blood as the need arises.


As the repository and administrator of the National Blood Service Network, the staffing requirements
and budget for its operationalization, digital blood services network, and registry, including
coordination for all the requirements of all blood centers nationwide, shall be included in the annual
budget of the Philippine Blood Center under the Department of Health.

In view of the foregoing, the approval of this proposed measure is eamestly sought.

a

HON. JENNIFER A. LAGBAS
Representative
First District, Misamis Oriental


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
‘Quezon City

20 CONGRESS
Ist Regular Session

HOUSE BILL nozl3 2

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE JENNIFER A. LAGBAS

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE PHILIPPINE BLOOD CENTER AND SERVICES
NETWORK, DEFINING ITS OBJECTIVES, POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, 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 “Philippine Blood Center and Services
Network Act of 2025.”

SEC. 2, Declaration of Policy. -It is hereby declared the policy of the State to protect and promote the
right to health of the people and to instill health consciousness among them by making the rights of
patients to appropriate, non-discriminatory, and quality health and medical care in all health care
facilities available, within its competence, manpower, and resources.

The State shall adopt an integrated and relevant approach with the use of available technology in
improving health services and management and provide adequate and safe health products and supplies
to all at affordable costs.

The Department of Health shall lead in the promotion of regular nationwide voluntary blood donation
drives to ensure the availability of blood supplies and inventory in all blood centers across the country
and maintain a national blood registry system for reference purposes in the national blood services
network.

‘The Department of Health may coordinate with the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), other
institutional partners and linkages to promote further awareness of, participation in, and understanding
of voluntary blood donation activities.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act, the following terms shall be defined as follows:

) Blood —shall refer to the human blood for transfusion;

b) Blood Component — shall refer to, but not limited to, whole blood, red cells, granulocytes,
plasma, platelets, cryoprecipitate, and cryosuperatant prepared in the Blood Center;

) Blood Disease — shall refer to a blood condition that involves problems with the red blood
cells, white blood cells, platelets, blood vessels, bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, or other

1


proteins involved in bleeding and clotting (hemostasis and thrombosis). Blood diseases and
blood disorders are used interchangeable in this Act;

4) Blood Product — shall refer to a therapeutic substance derived from whole blood or plasma;

©) Blood Service Facility (BSF) —- shall refer to any health facility authorized to collect, test,
process, store, or distribute blood and blood products, including blood banks, blood collection
Units, blood stations, and transfusion facilities;

1) Blood Transfusion — shall refer to the process of transferring blood or blood-based products
from one person into the circulatory system of another;

2) Certificate of Inclusion (COI) — shall refer to an official document attesting that the Blood
Service Facility (BSF) belongs to the Philippine Blood Services Network, compliant to the
policies, guidelines, and standards set by the Department of Health, and actively participating
in the provision of efficient blood services by ensuring delivery of safe, adequate, and
accessible blood supply;

hy Philippine Blood Center (PBC) — shall shall refer to the national facility created under this Act
to oversee, regulate, and support the country’s blood services;

i) Philippine Blood Services Network (PBSN) — shall refer to integrated system of blood service
facilities coordinated by the Philippine Blood Center to ensure the availability and safety of
blood and blood products; and

3) Voluntary Blood Donor — shall refer to a donor who gives blood freely and voluntarily without
any form of payment.

SEC. 4. Creation of the Philippine Blood Center . ~The Philippine Blood Center shall be created
under the Department of Health with offices to be located in the vicinity of the Lung Center of the
Philippines. It shall establish a PBSN, and a digital portal as a repository of the blood registry of regular
blood volunteers, patients with blood availments in all health facilities nationwide, and those availing
of blood typing requirements

The Philippine Blood Center shall coordinate with the PNRC and all health institutions to get its
voluntary blood donors’ data and enroll it in the national registry while ensuring data integrity in
compliance with Republic Act No. 10173 otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

It shall provide basic identification protocols that will be used as reference to contact volunteers during
voluntary blood donation campaigns in their area when the need arises and during critical blood supply
shortages by soliciting their consent to volunteer and donate blood accordingly.

‘The Philippine Blood Center and all Regional Blood Centers shall be allowed to collect reasonable fees
for the collection, processing, and transport of blood based on the guidelines to be prescribed by the
Department of Health.

SEC. 5. Organizational Structure of the Philippine Blood Center. The Philippine Blood Center shall
be headed by an Executive Director appointed by the President of the Philippines, upon
recommendation by the Secretary of Health, with at least ten (10) years of relevant experience in public
health, transfusion medicine, health systems management, or any related field

‘The Philippine Blood Center Executive Director shall
Coordinating Council (PBCC).

as a regular member of the Philippine Blood

‘The staffing requirements for functional, technical, and operational requirements of the Center shall be
submitted by the Department of Health in accordance with the Organizational Structure and Staffing
Pattern (OSSP) of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

SEC. 6. Role and Authority of the Philippine Blood Center. ~ The Center shall handle the following,
functions:
I, Issuance of the Certificate of Inclusion in the blood services network;


2. Approve the schedules of the voluntary blood donation activities nationwide in partnership with
the regional centers for health development and in coordination with different health facilities
and volunteer organizations;

3. Consult and coordinate with local government units and various stakeholders in recruitment
and invitation of voluntary blood donors;

4. Prepare the protocols for the collection of blood, appropriate storage, distribution, and transport
of blood in all health facilities, including non-hospital-based blood banks and national reference
laboratories;

5s. tion of health professionals for all blood banks nationwide;

6. Conduct appropriate clinical research, trials, and examination of blood samples;

7. Provide facility and equipment standards for all blood banks in the blood services network,
including inspection for compliance purposes;

8. Processing of whole blood into blood components, including related activities,

9. Extract and collect blood from volunteers and patients with their consent as part of the
continuity plan to ensure ready supply of blood;

10. Ensure the safe and adequate supply of blood and blood products to all health facilities in
accordance with the requirements of each facility based on the digital portal registry data;

11. Classify, accredit, and establish regional blood centers and allow mobile blood centers in highly
urbanized areas;

12. Promote mobile and health facility-based voluntary blood donation: and

13. May perform such other functions consistent with the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 7. Regional Blood Centers. — Every Regional Department of Health Center for Health
Development (CHD) including the BARMM shall have one (1) Regional Blood Center equipped with
adequate health professionals and staff with appropriate space and necessary equipment to manage and
handle the blood requirements of patients and collaborate with the various health stakeholders.

Every Regional Blood Center shall provide the Philippine Blood Center with accurate data for its
inventory of blood stocks in their area of jurisdiction and provide alternate solutions for the easy and
fast dispatch of blood requirements to meet the demand of patients and health providers.

The budgetary requirements for the additional CHD personnel for their blood center will be included in
the annual regional budget of the Department of Health to effectively implement the provisions of this
Act.

SEC. 8. Functions of the Regional Blood Centers. - Regional Blood Centers shall have the following,
functions:
I. Recruitment, retention, and care of voluntary blood donors;
2. Collection of blood from qualified voluntary blood donors;
3. Testing of units of blood for infectious disease markers (HIV, Hep B, HCV, Syphilis and
Malarial parasites);

4. Processing of whole blood into blood components;
5. Pheresis of blood components;
6. Storage, issuance, transport, and distribution of whole blood & blood components;
7. Quality Assurance and supervision of Hospital Blood banks/blood station under its
geographical areas;
8. Conduct of Training and Research;
9. Performance of special confirmatory and reference immunohematologic examinations such as:
a. Resolution of incompatibility red cell crossmatches;
b. Identification of red cell alloantibodies and autoantibodies
¢. Phenotyping of patients and donors; and
4d. Provision of antigen-negative red cell units.
10. Ensure that safe supply of blood and blood products to all hospitals and other health facilities
are adequate in terms of distribution and delivery;
11. Develop other capabilities as the need arises in the respective regions.

3


SEC. 9. Priority Access to Blood Supply. — An individual who has donated blood voluntarily and
regularly, as recorded in the Philippine Blood Center’s blood registry, shall be granted priority access
to safe and adequate blood supply for their own medical needs, subject to medical necessity and
availability

‘The DOH shall issue guidelines to operationalize this provision, including the definition of “regular
donor,” documentation and verification process, scope of priority, and safeguards to ensure that such
priority remains consistent with the principles of equity and medical ethics.

SEC. 10. Tax Exemptions. ~ The Philippine Blood Center with clearance from the Department of
Health shall be allowed to import blood bank equipment, blood bags, reagents, and such other related
supplies. It shall be exempted from all government taxes and duties when the importation is made by
the Philippine Blood Center for its facility use and for the use of all regional Centers for Health
Development with a certification from the Department of Health, duly submitted to the Department of
Finance and the Bureau of Customs.

The Philippine Blood Center shall be allowed to accept donations, grants, contributions, gifts, and other
kinds of gratuitous acts in connection with its institutional mandate, and all these gratuitous acts shall
bbe exempted from all national taxes. The donors of these donations, gifts. and gratuitous acts shall be
allowed to deduct this from their gross income consistent with the provisions of the National Internal
Revenue Code of 1997, as amended, and Republic Act No. 10863 otherwise known as Customs
Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

SEC. 11. Appropriations. — The amount necessary for the initial implementation of this Act, shall be
charged against the current budget of the Department of Health.

For the succeeding years, the amount necessary for the Philippine Blood Center shall be included in the
annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 12. Trust Fund. ~ A separate trust fund shall be maintained by the Philippine Blood Center and
cach Regional Blood Center for cash donations and other income and can be utilized by the Philippine
Blood Center and Regional Blood Center upon submission to the Department of Health the proposal
for its utilization but shall not be used for Personal Services.

SEC. 13. Annual Report. — The Philippine Blood Center shall submit an annual report to the
Department of Health, the Office of the President, the Senate of the Philippines, and the House of
Representatives on its activities, accomplishments, and recommendations to better address and improve
the safe supply of blood in the Philippines

SEC. 14. Transitory Provision. — The existing Philippine Blood Center shall be given a period of three
(3) months from the date of implementation of this Act to wind down its activities. Pertinent equipment,
supplies, and existing facility will be transferred to the new Philippine Blood Center supported with
appropriate inventory.

All personnel of the Philippine Blood Center shall be transferred to the new Philippine Blood Center,
subject to their qualifications and availability for plantilla positions under the new PBC-approved
OSSP. Those affected by this law shall be provided with the appropriate benefits provided under
existing laws.

‘The Department of Health shall appoint, in transition, the officers and staff of the new Philippine Blood
Center while complying with the OSSP for continuity of health services to the public.


SEC. 15. Implementing Rules and Regulations. ~ The Department of Health shall promulgate the
implementing rules and regulations in consultation with various relevant stakeholders within thirty (30)
days from the approval of this Act.

SEC. 16. Separability Clause. - Any portion of or provision of this Act that may be declared
unconstitutional or invalid shall not have the effect of nullifying the other portions or provisions hereof
as long as such remaining portion or provision can still subsist and be given effect in their entirety.

SEC. 17. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, orders, rules, and regulations or other issuances or
parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 18. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official
Gazette or any two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

Approved,