Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

~ 3879

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by Representative VINCENT FRANCO D. FRASCO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to establish a Heart Center of the Philippines - Visayas in the
Municipality of Liloan in the Province of Cebu.

Section 11, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution provides 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 the people at affordable cost

Presidential Decree No. 673 (s. 1975) created the Philippine Heart Center, which aimed
to benefit the people of the Philippines by further enhancing the noble undertaking of research
in heart and allied diseases, and to render specialized medical services for the prevention and
treatment of heart and allied diseases.

In his first State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr.
emphasized that a stronger health care system and more health centers and hospitals are
necessary. Therefore, specialty hospitals like the Heart Center should not only be available in
the National Capital Region, but also in other areas of the country.

Data taken from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), as compiled from the
Department of Health (DOH), the Philippine Heart Association (PHA), government and private
hospitals, and other healthcare facilities all over the country, indicate that ischaemic heart
diseases were the leading causes of death from January to October 2021 with 110,332 cases or
18.3% of the total deaths in the country. This was a 28.0% increase from the 86,164 deaths or
16.9% of the total deaths in the country during the same period in 2020,

It is evident that there is a need to put up Heart Centers in the provinces in order to
decentralize the services in the National Capital Region. With the increasing number of heart
disease cases in the country, medical services should be made accessible and affordable to
Filipinos nationwide, especially those living in the remote areas.

Liloan is a first class municipality in the province of Cebu, with a total land area of
5,210 hectares. According to the 2020 Philippine Census of Population, the population of
Liloan is pegged at 153,197 persons residing in its 14 barangays. Liloan, then under the
leadership of former town Mayor and now Department of Tourism Secretary, Atty. Maria

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Christina Esperanza C. Frasco, won numerous national awards, such as Top Philippine Model
Municipality, Education Hub Award, Retirement Haven Award and Wealth Center Award by
The Manila Times. Liloan was also twice awarded the Most Competitive Municipality in
Resilience/Most Resilient Municipality in the Philippines by the Department of Trade and
Industry, and thrice awarded the highest audit rating and granted an “unqualified opinion” by
the Commission on Audit (COA). Liloan is situated in the number one province of the
Philippines, the Province of Cebu, Central Visayas Region, and is the gateway to the North of
Cebu and a convenient access to the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Cebu and to the cities
and towns from the West and South of Cebu

At present, there is an increasing number of residents in the Visayas diagnosed with
heart illnesses. It is thus imperative that specialized medical services should be provided for
those with heart and other allied diseases in the Visayas area, especially the poor and less
fortunate in life, without regard to race, creed, color or political belief.

The establishment and maintenance of the Heart Center of the Philippines - Visayas
will give true meaning to the Constitutional policy of providing efficient and effective health
care system that is responsive to the health needs and problems of the people

In view of the foregoing, the approval of this bill is earnestly requested.

VINCENT FRANCO D. FRASCO,


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 3879

Introduced by Rep. Vincent Franco D. Frasco

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A HEART CENTER IN THE
MUNICIPALITY OF LILOAN IN THE PROVINCE OF CEBU, TO BE KNOWN AS
THE HEART CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES — VISAYAS, AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled

Section 1. Creation of the Philippine Heart Center — Visayas; Board of Trustees. There
is hereby created a trust, for the benefit primarily of the Filipino people, under the name and
style of "Philippine Heart Center — Visayas" hereinafter referred to as the Philippine Heart
Center — Visayas.

The Philippine Heart Center — Visayas shall be administered by a Board of Trustees,
composed of seven (7) members, to be appointed by the President of the Philippines. The
Director of the Center shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees.

The six appointive members of the Board of Trustees shall serve for a period of three
(3) years and until their successors shall have been appointed and qualified. 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 Philippine Heart Center —
Visayas shall elect a Chairman from among themselves, who shall be presiding officer of the
Board of Trustees

‘The Director of the Philippine Heart Center ~ Visayas shall serve as Vice-Chairman of
the Board. The Director shall act as the chief executive officer of the Philippine Heart Center
— Visayas, with authority, among others, to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of the
personnel thereof, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees.

Four (4) members of the Board of Trustees shall constitute a quorum 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 Philippine Heart Center ~ Visayas

Section 2. Government contributions. - The Government shall constitute the necessary
land, building, equipment and facilities, to the Philippine Heart Center — Visayas, 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 Philippine Heart Center —
Visayas shall consist of such real, personal, mixed, and other type of property, now owned or
reserve for, or may hereafter be given, donated, acquired, transferred or conveyed to, the
Philippine Heart Center — Visayas 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 Philippine
Heart Center — Visayas are

1. To construct, establish, operate and maintain a heart center for the public welfare,
including a specialized heart hospital;

2. To promote, encourage and engage in scientific research on the prevention of cardio-
vascular diseases and the care and/or treatment of heart patients and related activities,
including sponsorship and conduct of relevant congresses, conventions, seminars, and
conferences;

3. To stimulate and/or underwrite scientific researches on the biological, demographic,
social, economic, eugenic, physiological aspects of cardio-vascular disorders and
abnormalities and their control; and gather, compile, and publish the findings of such
researches for public dissemination,

4. To facilitate and encourage the dissemination and exchange of ideas and information
‘on the prevention, treatment and control of heart diseases, to arouse, enhance and
develop public interest on heart consciousness or awareness, general health and
physical fitness, especially on human cardio-vascular requirements and other relevant
or related fields;

5. 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 cardiac services, and related activities;

6. To assist universities, hospitals and research institutions in their studies of cardio-
vascular anomalies, to encourage advanced training on matters of, or affecting the heart,
and related fields and to support educational programs of value to general health;

7. 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

8. To extend medical and cardiological services to the general public, to help prevent,
relieve or alleviate the innumerable 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 Philippine Heart Center — Visayas, as a body corporate, acting through its Board

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‘of Trustees, shall have all the powers pertaining to a juridical person, and is therefore
authorized, among other things:

1. 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;

2. To contract and be contracted with;
3. To mortgage, lease, sell, transfer, convey or otherwise dispose of its properties;

4. 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;

5. 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 Philippine Heart Center ~ Visayas;

6. To invite foreign heart specialists and similar experts in the various medical fields to
train the personnel or trainees or residents of the Philippine Heart Center ~ Visayas;

7. To send the personnel of the Philippine Heart Center — Visayas 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 Philippine Heart
Center ~ Visayas;

8. 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
Philippine Heart Center — Visayas; and

9. 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 Philippine Heart Center —
Visayas.

Section 6. Assistance from government offices. - The Philippine Heart Center —
Visayas 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 cooperation to the Philippine Heart Center — Visayas in the accomplishment of its
objectives and activities.

Section 7. Appropriations. ~ The Department of Health shall provide funding for the
establishment and operation of the Heart Center of the Philippines ~ Visayas. The Secretary of
Health shall include in the Department’s subsidy program, support for the capital outlays of
the said hospital

Section 8. Separability Clause. — If any provision or part of this Act is declared
unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provision not affected shall remain in full force and
effect.


Section 9, Repealing Clause. ~ All other laws, decrees, executive orders, issuances,
rules and regulations, or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are
hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Section 10. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,