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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ____ 
Introduced by CIBAC Party-List Representative 
HON. EDUARDO “BRO. EDDIE” C. VILLANUEVA 
AN ACT  
PROVIDING FOR MANDATORY FREE HEALTH MAINTENANCE 
ORGANIZATION (HMO) PLAN COVERAGE TO FACULTY AND NON-
TEACHING PERSONNEL IN STATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES 
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Article XIV, Section 5, Paragraph (5) of the 1987 Constitution 
mandates that “[t]he State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to 
education and ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share 
of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other 
means of job satisfaction and fulfillment.”  Towards this end, one of the 
efforts undertaken by the government is the implementation of an across-
the-board increase in the salary schedule of civilian government 
personnel.  
However, problems persist with regard the provision of “adequate 
remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment” to 
faculties and non-teaching personnel in state universities and colleges 
(SUCs).  One of these problems is in the aspect of healthcare.  
If the personnel were to suffer from a debilitating illness, limited 
PhilHealth coverage would only answer a fraction of the cost of treatment 
and the rest would still be shouldered out of the personnel’s pocket. This 
is especially alarming considering a full-time lecturer classified as 
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Instructor 1 in a state university usually only receives salary equivalent to 
Salary Grade 12 or around Php22,938 per month.  
The strain of hundreds of thousands of pesos in hospital bills and 
their meager salaries would definitely take a toll on their standard of living 
and quality of life. An emergency of this sort may possibly even put them 
into enormous amounts of debt.  
This bill seeks to provide faculty members and regular non-teaching 
personnel of SUCs with free mandatory health coverage provided by 
health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Under this bill, the Board of 
Regents of each SUC has the authority to decide on the form, coverage 
and terms of the HMO plan without any need of approval from other 
agencies and/or officers.   
A free HMO coverage will not only increase the job satisfaction 
among SUC personnel, it will also ensure that a healthy pool of faculty 
and non-teaching personnel will be able to continuously and rigorously 
teach and shape the minds of younger generations. 
The immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
HON. EDUARDO “BRO. EDDIE” C. VILLANUEVA 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ____ 
Introduced by CIBAC Party-List Representative 
HON. EDUARDO “BRO. EDDIE” C. VILLANUEVA 
AN ACT  
PROVIDING FOR MANDATORY FREE HEALTH MAINTENANCE 
ORGANIZATION (HMO) PLAN COVERAGE TO FACULTY AND NON-
TEACHING PERSONNEL IN STATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES 
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
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Philippines in Congress assembled: 
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SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Free 
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Health Card for all State Universities and Colleges (SUC) Personnel Act.” 
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SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is hereby the policy of the State 
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to give priority to education, science and technology, arts, culture, and 
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sports to foster patriotism and nationalism, accelerate social progress, 
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and promote total human liberation and development. It is also the policy 
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of the State to assign the highest budgetary priority to education and 
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ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best 
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available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job 
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satisfaction and fulfillment. Towards this end, and in order to protect the 
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welfare of teaching and non-teaching personnel, the State shall establish 
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mandatory Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) coverage to 
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augment 
their 
healthcare 
coverage 
in 
case 
of 
health-related 
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contingencies.  
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SEC. 3. Mandatory HMO Coverage. – All SUCs shall provide 
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mandatory HMO coverage to all full-time faculty and regular non-teaching 
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personnel of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). For this purpose, 
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the Board of Regents of each SUC shall have the discretion to decide the 
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form, coverage, and terms of the services to be provided by an HMO.  
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Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the approval and 
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implementation of the mandatory HMO coverage provided under this Act 
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shall not require any approval from other agencies or officials.  
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For the avoidance of doubt, the mandatory HMO coverage provided 
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under this Act shall be in addition to the existing healthcare program 
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provided to all government employees through the Philippine Health 
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Insurance Corporation. 
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SEC. 4. Appropriations. – The amounts necessary to carry out the 
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provisions of this Act shall be included in the annual General 
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Appropriations Act (GAA) under the budgets of the particular SUCs. 
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SEC. 5. Separability Clause. – If any provision of this Act is held 
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invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provision of this Act not 
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otherwise affected shall remain valid and subsisting.  
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SEC. 6. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, executive orders, 
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department or memorandum orders, and other administrative issuance or 
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parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are 
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hereby modified, superseded or repealed accordingly. 
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SEC. 7. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) 
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days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) 
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newspapers of general circulation. 
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Approved, 
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