Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  1566 
Introduced by Representative MARLYN L. PRIMICIAS-AGABAS 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed some weaknesses of the Philippine health system, and one of 
which is the lack of medical personnel. At the height of the pandemic, our medical frontliners were over 
worked, exhausted, exposed to more harm than they should have been. 
The country needs to be better prepared in the future. Thus, the need to establish a Medical Reserve 
Corps. This is in line with Section 15, Article II, of the 1987 Constitution, which states that “[t]he State shall 
protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them.” 
This bill seeks to establish a Medical Reserve Corps. The objective is to organize a group of trained 
and equipped medical and health-related personnel for rapid mobilization during national or local public 
health emergencies. They will augment the medical health personnel of government hospitals and local 
government units. 
The MRC shall be composed of all persons who have degrees in the field of medicine, nursing, 
medical technology, and other health-related fields but have yet to have their respective licenses to practice. 
A medical reserve force specifically trained to supplement the existing human health resources will ease the 
burden in our healthcare system. This will give our hospitals and medical facilities the added capacity to 
handle the extreme demand for patient care in times of disaster and health emergencies. 
Institutionalizing the MRC, the State recognizes the indispensable role of our health professionals 
not only in normal healthcare delivery but also in national resilience and disaster response. It also ensures 
that in times of crisis, there will be a well-prepared and adequately supported corps of professionals who can 
supplement the regular health workforce and help save lives. 
In view of the foregoing, immediate approval of this measure is earnestly requested. 
MARLYN L. PRIMICIAS-AGABAS 
July 8, 2025
10:24 am


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  1566 
Introduced by Representative MARLYN L. PRIMICIAS-AGABAS 
AN ACT 
INSTITUTING THE MEDICAL RESERVE CORPS AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS 
THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Medical Reserve Corps Act”. 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - Article II, Section 1 5, of the Constitution enjoins the State to 
protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among 
them. Article XIII, Section II also provides for the adoption of an integrated and comprehensive 
approach to health development. The State further reiterates its commitment to the 
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3, which calls on the State to ensure 
healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. 
The State recognizes the need for a reserve force of highly skilled and medically 
trained professionals and volunteers who can be 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 complements 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 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. - There is hereby established an 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 so 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, 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 training 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 cases when a graduate has changed address immediately prior to deployment, the 
LGU shall immediately exert efforts to locate his known closes resident kin, who is then 
mandated to exert similar efforts. The use of digital communications and social media 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 local government units 
(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 Act 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 the health of citizen 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 multipurpose 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 the 
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 diseases patients, and for such other related purposes. 
SEC. 12. Protection to 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 circumstances 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 the 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 guidelines for the effective implementation 
of this Act. 
SEC. 20. Separability Clause, - If any provision 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 regulations, 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,