Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Constitution Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL No. _________ 
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE LORDAN G. SUAN 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Philippine Constitution clearly stipulates that the state shall protect and 
promote the right of the people to health. It mandates an integrated and comprehensive 
approach to health development to make services available to all, at an affordable cost. 
Further, the Constitution guarantees that the needs of the under-privileged, sick, 
elderly, differently abled, women, and children shall be given priority. These are 
necessary, to ensure the prosperity of our nation, raise the standard of living of our 
people and improve their quality of life. 
There are two factors that hampers the delivery of health services in this 
country: limited health facilities and human resources, and uneven distribution of 
limited health facilities and human resources. Here’s the data from the Department of 
Health. There is a ratio of 3.4 doctors for every 10,000 Filipinos. This is way below the 
standard set by the World Health Organization which is 10 doctors for every 10,000 
population. When it comes to human resources for health, 16.3 personnel for 10,000 
Filipinos, way below the standard of 44.5.  
For the Philippine health system, the 2021 DOH data shows that we have 1,383 
hospitals, 462 are government-run and 921 are privately-owned. The highest 
concentration of these public and private hospitals are in Luzon and in highly-urbanized 
cities in Central Visayas.  
Our specialty hospitals like the Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the 
Philippines, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute and the Philippine Children’s 
Medical Center are all in Quezon City, Metro Manila. Just imagine the ordeal of a person 
from Mindanao, needing immediate cardiovascular attention only to be told to wait for 
days or even months before being attended to. We are not blind to the reality that fellow 
Filipinos are queuing during wee hours or for days at the National Kidney and 
Transplant Institute just to get renal care. Suffering children from far flung provinces 
and regions are brought  to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center to avail its 
affordable and first rate medical services. What we see are those who come to our 
offices asking for help and those waiting in line not knowing if they can get the needed 
medical attention in time, but there are those who opt to stay at home and wait for their 
fate because they don’t have the means to go to these hospitals. Most of these patients 
are financially-challenged.  
November 24, 2022
3:00 pm
6362


For these reasons, I earnestly urge my colleagues to pass this bill on the 
establishment of the Philippine Heart Center for Mindanao as an initial act in 
establishing similar specialty hospitals in other regions.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HON. LORDAN G. SUAN 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
            1st District 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     Cagayan de Oro City 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Constitution Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL No. _________ 
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE LORDAN G. SUAN 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PHILIPPINE HEART CENTER IN THE CITY OF 
CAGAYAN DE ORO, PROVINCE OF MISAMIS ORIENTAL, TO BE KNOWN 
AS PHILIPPINE HEART CENTER – MINDANAO, AND APPROPRIATING 
FUNDS THERFOR 
SECTION 1. There shall be established a Philippine Heart Center in the City of Cagayan 
de Oro, Province of Misamis Oriental to be known as Philippine Heart Center – 
Mindanao to be managed and operated pursuant to the provisions of Presidential 
Decree No. 673, S. 1975. It shall be the primary specialty government health care facility 
providing comprehensive cardiovascular care accessible and responsive to the needs of 
the people of Mindanao, especially to the poor and indigent patients. 
SECTION 2. The sum of Five Hundred Million Pesos (500,000,000.00) shall be released 
from the National Treasury and is hereby appropriated to be used for land acquisition, 
construction of the facility, purchase of equipment and fixtures, and personal services. 
Provided, that other expenses necessary for the initial implementation of this Act shall 
be charged from the current year’s budget of the Philippine Heart Center. Thereafter, 
the amount necessary for the continued implementation of this Act shall be included in 
the Annual General Appropriations Act. 
SECTION 3. The establishment of the Philippine Heart Center – Mindanao shall be 
completed within a period of five (5) years from effectivity of this Act. 
Section 4. The Board of Trustees of the Philippine Heart Center and the Department of 
Health shall formulate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective 
implementation of this Act, within sixty (60) days from its effectivity. 
Section 5. If any provision of this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the 
provisions not hereby affected shall remain in full force and effect. 
6362


Section 6. All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof, inconsistent 
with or contrary to the provisions of this Act are repealed, amended or modified, 
accordingly. 
Section 7. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from the date of its publication in 
the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
 
Approved,