Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
FIRST REGULAR SESSION 
House Bill No. _______ 
INTRODUCED BY Rep. GREG G. GASATAYA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Art. II, Sec. 15 of the 1987 Constitution states that “The State shall 
protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health 
consciousness among them.” Furthermore, Art. XIII, Sec. 11 of the same further 
emphasizes 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 under-privileged, sick, elderly, disabled, women and 
children. The State shall endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers.” 
Accordingly, the government must exhaust efforts in ensuring quality and 
accessible healthcare for its people. 
Cardiovascular and kidney diseases remain the top causes of death in our 
country today. 276 Filipinos die from heart attack every day and 28,215 regularly 
undergo dialysis because of kidney problems, placing heart diseases as the top 
killer disease and kidney problems as the seventh (7th) top cause of morbidity and 
eighth (8th) of mortality in the country. 
While there has been significant improvement in the quality of medical 
services that the State provides, issues in terms of accessibility due to financial and 
geographical constraints still remain. Patients suffering from cardiovascular and 
kidney diseases from all over the country are often faced with no other choice but 
to go to the Philippine Heart Center and the National Kidney and Transplant 
Institute in Metro Manila just to avail of specialized medical assistance from the 
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10:21 am
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government due to lack of local facilities that can accommodate their medical 
needs. The deficiency on tertiary (level 3) government medical facilities places 
additional burden on patients especially the poor through added expenses such as 
travel fare, lodging, and miscellaneous expenditures. In the case of Negros 
Occidental, only two (2) government-owned dialysis centers and a lone tertiary 
government hospital cater to thousands of patients with cardiovascular and kidney 
diseases in the province that patients in need of delicate procedures are left 
obligated to travel to Metro Manila. 
This bill therefore seeks to address the aforementioned issues and make 
quality medical care and services more accessible by establishing a center for heart 
and kidney diseases in the City of Bacolod, Province of Negros Occidental. 
In view of the foregoing, passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
 REP. GREG G. GASATAYA 
  Lone District of Bacolod City 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
FIRST REGULAR SESSION 
House Bill No. _____ 
INTRODUCED BY Rep. GREG G. GASATAYA 
AN ACT 
CREATING THE BACOLOD-NEGROS HEART 
 AND KIDNEY CENTER AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
SECTION 1. Creation of the Bacolod-Negros Heart and Kidney Center; 
Board of Trustees. – 
There is hereby created a trust, for the benefit primarily of the people of 
Negros, under the name and style of "Bacolod-Negros Heart and Kidney Center" in 
the City of Bacolod hereinafter referred to as the Institute. 
The Institute shall be administered by a Board of Trustees, composed of 
seven (7) members, to be appointed by the President of the Philippines, who shall 
serve with the term of three (3) years. The Director of the Center shall be 
appointed by the Board of Trustees. 
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 Center shall elect a Chairman from among themselves, who shall 
be presiding officer of the Board of Trustees. 
The Director of the Center shall serve as Vice-Chairman of the Board. The 
Director shall act as the chief executive officer of the 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. 
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Four (4) members of the Board of Trustees shall constitute a quorum to 
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 
Center. 
SECTION 2. Government contributions. –  The Government shall 
constitute the necessary land, building, equipment and facilities, to the Center, and 
shall pay such obligations for real, personal and mixed properties arising from such 
undertaking under a deferred payment arrangement within 5 years, at a preferred 
rate of interest. 
SECTION 3. Property of the Center. – The Property of the Center shall 
consist of such real, personal, mixed, and other type of property, now owned or 
reserved for, or may hereafter be given, donated, acquired, transferred or conveyed 
to, the Center by the Philippine Government, its branches and instrumentalities, 
any foreign government, as well as by trust, foundations, corporations, or persons, 
alien or domestic, in order to carry out its purposes and objectives as set forth 
herein. 
SECTION 4. Purposes and objectives. – The purposes and objectives of the 
Center are: 
(a) To construct, establish, operate and maintain a heart and kidney center 
for the public welfare, including a specialized heart and kidney hospital; 
(b) To promote, encourage, and engage in medical and scientific research 
relative to the prevention and treatment of cardio-vascular and kidney 
diseases and the care and/or treatment of heart and kidney patients and 
related activities, including sponsorship and conduct of relevant 
congresses, conventions, seminars, and conferences; 
(c) To stimulate and/or underwrite scientific researches on the biological, 
demographic, social, economic, eugenic, physiological aspects of kidney 
and cardio-vascular disorders and abnormalities and their control; and 
gather, compile, and publish the findings of such researches for public 
dissemination in coordination with the National Kidney and Transplant 
Institute and the Philippine Heart Center; 
(d) To encourage and/or undertake the training of physicians, nurses, 
medical technicians, health officers and social workers on the practical 
and scientific conduct and implementation of kidney and cardiac 
services, and related activities; 


(e) To assist universities, hospitals and research institutions in their studies 
on heart, kidney, and allied diseases and other related fields, to encourage 
and grant scholarships for advanced training and specialization in related 
fields, and to support educational programs of value to general public 
health; 
(f) To encourage the formation of other organization on the national, 
provincial, city, municipal or barangay level and to coordinate their 
various efforts and activities for the purpose of achieving a more 
effective programmatic approach on the common problems relative to the 
objectives herein enumerated; and 
(g) To extend medical and cardiological services to the general public, to 
help prevent, relieve or alleviate the innumerable kidney and cardio-
vascular afflictions and maladies of the people specially the poor and less 
fortunate in life, without regard to race, creed, color or political belief. 
SECTION 5. Powers. – For the attainment and/or furtherance of the above 
purposes and objectives, the Institute, as a body corporate, acting through its Board 
of Trustees, shall have all the powers pertaining to a juridical person, and is 
therefore authorized, among other things: 
(a) To acquire and hold in any property of whatever nature or description, 
and to dispose of such property under any mode of encumbrance or 
conveyance; 
(b) To contract and be contracted with; 
(c) To mortgage, lease, sell, transfer, convey or otherwise dispose of its 
properties; 
(d) To solicit and receive donations, endowments and funds in the form of 
contributions, whether in cash or in kind, from both the public and private 
sectors; 
(e) To open such accounts in banks and other financial institutions, and to 
disburse such funds or invest the same as the Board may direct to 
accomplish or advance the purposes or interest of the Institute; 
(f) To invite foreign heart specialists and similar experts in the various 
medical fields to train the personnel or trainees or residents of the Institute; 


(g) To send the personnel of the Institute to research institutes, medical 
institutes or universities for advance training or observation and to attend 
international or regional conventions, conferences, congresses, seminars as 
the Board may deem necessary to accomplish the purposes and objectives of 
the Institute; 
(h) To adopt a set of by-laws, rules and regulations not inconsistent with law 
and the provisions hereof to govern the administration and operation of the 
affairs of the Center; and 
(i) To do all such other acts and things as are or may be necessary or 
incidental for the accomplishment of the purposes and objectives of the 
Institute. 
SECTION 6. Tax exemptions, etc. – All donations, contributions or 
endowments which may be made by entities or persons to the Center shall be 
exempt from income and gift taxes, and the same shall be further deductible in full 
for purposes of computing the maximum amount deductible under the National 
Internal Revenue Code, as amended. 
The Institute shall be exempt from the payment of all taxes, charges and fees 
imposed by the Government or any political subdivision or instrumentality thereof. 
All income earned by both Filipino and foreigner doctors who shall use the 
facilities of the Center shall be tax exempt for a period of five (5) years from the 
date of issuance hereof. 
SECTION 7. Assistance from government offices, etc. – The Center may 
call upon any department, bureau, office, agency or instrumentality of the 
Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations, for such 
assistance as it may need in the pursuit of its purposes and objectives. 
All individuals, entities and institutions are hereby enjoined to render full 
assistance and corporation to the Institute in the accomplishment of its objectives 
and activities. 
SECTION 8. Government contribution. – The amount of P1,000,000,000 is 
hereby appropriated as contribution of the National Government for the initial 
operations and maintenance of the Center. Thereafter, the necessary amount to 
support the continued operation and maintenance of the Bacolod-Negros Heart and 


Kidney Center shall be appropriated and released, subject to the approval of the 
President of the Philippines. 
SECTION 9. Auditing. – The books and accounts of the Center shall be 
subject to periodic auditing by the Commission on Audit. 
SECTION 10. Annual report. – The Institute shall render to the President 
of the Philippines an annual report of its activities and recommendations. 
SECTION 11. Effect of dissolution of the Center. – If, for any reason, the 
Center is dissolved, its property remaining at the time of such dissolution shall 
revert to the Philippine Government for disposition in accordance with law. 
SECTION 12. Separability Clause. – If any provision or part of this Act is 
declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected 
thereby shall remain in full force and effect. 
 
SECTION 13. Repealing Clause. — Any law, presidential decree or 
issuance, executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or 
regulation contrary to, or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby 
repealed, modified or amended accordingly.  
 
SECTION 14. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of 
general circulation. 
 
 
 
APPROVED,