THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES } 
Second Regular Session 
SENATE 
INTRODUCED BY HON. MANNY VILLAR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Veterans and retired government employees have made a career, offering their 
best years and at times putting their lives and limbs at risk, in serving the country and 
their fellowmen. 
The veterans are the brave men and women who have rendered military service 
during various conflicts. Surviving veterans served during the Second World War, the 
Korean campaign, the Vietnam Campaign, or who rendered military service in the 
Armed Forces of the Philippines during times of peace. They have risked their lives for 
the protection of the State and in defense of liberty and democracy. 
Government employees on the other hand are the faceless men and women who 
make government work and who have decided on a career in public service, 
notwithstanding the more lucrative opportunities in the private sector. They are the 
teachers, postal workers, public health officers, social workers, airport and port 
employees, telecommunications employees, land registrars, assessors, treasurers, 
collectors, revenue officers and thousand of others who are the flesh of the bureaucracy 
and the workhorses and front liners of government service. They are both commended 
and maligned, praised and cursed depending on times and circumstances, but what 
remains constant over generations is that they are ill-paid, with practically no savings 
and very little benefits on retirement. 
MaQy of these veterans and retired employees live the rest of their lives in 
extreme poverty, with only a few scratched plaques and faded certificates to show after 
a lifetime of public service. And in their ebbing years, when they are most vulnerable 
because of frailties of advancing age, they face mounting medical expenses at a time 
when their savings have dried up and no additional means of livelihood is possible. 
It is therefore the responsibility of the State to provide medical services to these 
veterans and retired government employees, not only as a gesture of gratitude for their 
past services, but also to reassure incumbent soldiers and employees that the 
Government will take care of them, and thus boost their morale and make them more 
productive. 
This bill therefore seeks to mandate that all government owned and operated 
hospitals shall provide free medical services to all Filipino veterans and retired 
government personnel. 
Immediate approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 


THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 1 
Second Regular Session 
INTRODUCED BY HON. MANNY VILLAR 
AN ACT PROVIDING FREE MEDICAL SERVICES TO FILIPINO VETERANS AND 
OPERATED HOSPITALS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
RETIRED GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL IN GOVERNMENT-OWNED AND 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. All Filipino veterans and retired government personnel shall be 
SEC. 2. The Department of Health shall promulgate the rules and regulations 
SEC. 3. All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, and all other issuances, 
or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed and modified 
accordingly. 
SEC. 4. If any part or provision of this Act is held unconstitutional or invalid, other 
parts and provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full 
force and effect. 
SEC. 5. This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following its complete 
given free medical services in government -owned and -operated hospitals. 
necessary to implement the provisions of this Act. 
publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved,