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FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
1 0 SEf' 28 F 1 :45 
SENAJE 
S. No. ~\)46 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Article 2, Section 15 ofthe 1987 Constitution states that: 
"The State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and 
instill health consciousness among them." 
The Philippine Daily Inquirer recently reported about a new health menace: Superbugs. I 
The Superbug was identified as the New Delhi metallo-beta-Iactamase 1 (NDM-I), a unique 
genetic mechanism identified in India, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. Laboratory tests 
showed that this kind of germs were not killed by carbapenems, a group of antibiotics often 
reserved as a last resort for emergency treatment for multi -drug resistant bugs.2 
Scientists have found that with more people traveling to find less costly medical 
treatments, particularly for procedures such as cosmetic surgery, the new superbug could soon 
spread across the globe. Because of medical tourism and international travel in general, 
resistance to these types of bacteria has the potential to spread around the world very quickly.3 
Proper reporting and quarantine procedures must be established not only to contain but 
also to prevent the entry of this deadly superbug that may cause the next global pandemic. 
I September 15,2010 issue. 
2 http://g!obalnation.inquirer.netfnews!breakingnews/view/ZO 1 00811-Z86 154/New-superbugs-spreading-
from-South-Asiastudy 
3 http://www.reuters.comiarticlelidUSTRE67AOYU20100811 
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FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
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OF THE PHILIPPINBS 
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First Regular Session 
) 
HI 
SEF 28 
Jl' 1 :45 
SEN~W46 
S.No. __ _ 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT REQUIRING HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS TO REPORT CASES 
OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANT INFECTIONS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Anti-Microbial Resistant Infections; Duty to Report. -
(A) 
Upon 
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considering that the infection of a patient in a hospital, nursing home, or other health care 
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facility is 
resisting antimicrobial treatment, the prescribing physician shall immediately 
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arrange for culturing and laboratory testing of such infection, and for apprising the facility's 
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administrator and its director of nursing ofthe case. 
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(B) Upon issuing its findings, the laboratory shall send a copy thereof to the Department 
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of Health. 
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SECTION 2. Implementing Rules and Regulations; Standard Operating Procedure. -
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The Secretary of Health shall draft the implementing rules and regulations of this Act, including 
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the standard operating procedure to be followed by hospitals, nursing homes, and other health 
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care facilities upon discovery of antimicrobial resistant cases. 
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SECTION 3. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or 
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unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
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valid and subsisting. 
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SECTTION 4. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
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order, letter 'Of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or inconsistent 
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with th" provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 
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SEC. 5. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
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publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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