fOr

NINETEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodrigt

No, 3010

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

House

This bill was filed during the 18" Congress and was approved by the House of
Representatives.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the weaknesses of the country’s health system
and the bureaucracy involved in making decisions to address health scares and pandemics.

The Philippines is considered to be prone to pandemics and is high risk for
communicable diseases. We have a tropical iocation, a very large population, high rates of
urbanization and over-crowding, a highly mobile and transborder population. We are also a
top tourist destination and we are experiencing an increase in the number of foreign workers.

For 2019, the Department of Health declared a polio outbreak and a dengue outbreak
In the same year, the Philippines was ranked as the country with the fastest growing number
of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) cases in the world by the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS).

The Philippines is the country with the third-highest prevalence of tuberculosis.

We have always been reactive and very bureaucratic. The country's units devoted to
communicable disease prevention and control - The Infectious Diseases Control and
Prevention Division of the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (PCB) of the Department
of Health, The Infectious Diseases for Elimination Division of the DPCB, and the Research
Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), - are mere sub-units under the Department of Health.
They do not possess the policymaking latitude to decisively, quickly, and effectively respond
to serious public health emergencies caused by infectious diseases.

Thus, the need for a Center for Disease Control and Prevention which is a specialized
agency tasked to tackle communicable disease prevention and control.

This bill would make the country proactive and better prepared for health emergencies
and pandemics.

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

Wit /
UF USB. Ubkcouez
f o


NINETEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriquez

House Bill No. 3010

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE MODERNIZATION OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE CAPABILITIES, ESTABLISHING FOR THIS
PURPOSE THE CENTER FOR DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL, AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Center for Disease
Prevention and Control (CDC) Act".

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to protect and promote the right
to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them. The State also mandates
the adoption of an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development.

Towards this end, the State shall give high priority to the allocation of material and institutional
resources to protect public health by ensuring that the Philippine health system is well-
prepared to forecast, prevent, monitor, and control diseases, injuries, and disabilities both of
national and international concern.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms ~ As used in this Act:

(2) Communicable disease, also known as contagious disease, refers to an illness
resulting from an infection, or a disease, which can be transmitted from an infected
host individual or group to a particular individual or group. It spreads through direct,
bodily contact with an infected person, their discharges, or an object or surface they
have contaminated;

(b) Disease refers to an illness due to a specific toxic substance, occupational exposure
or infectious agent, which affects a susceptible individual, either directly or indirectly,
from an infected animal or person, or indirectly through an intermediate host, vector,
or the environment;

(c) Disease surveillance refers to a systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and
dissemination of outcome and specific data for use in the planning, implementation,
and evaluation of public health practice. A disease surveillance system includes the
functional capacity for data analysis as well as the timely dissemination of these data
to persons who can undertake effective disease prevention and control activities;

(d) Epidemic or outbreak refers to an occurrence of more cases of disease than normally
expected within a specific place or group of people over a given period of tim

(e) Infectious disease refers to a clinically manifested disease of humans or animals
resulting from an infection which can be communicable or non-communicable;


(f) 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:
(i) Bio terrorism;

(ii) Appearance of a novel or previously controlled or eradicated infectious
agent or biological toxin;

(ii) A natural disaster,

(iv) A chemical attack or accidental release;

(v) A nuclear attack or accident; or

(vi) An attack or accidental release of radioactive materials; and,
(2) Poses a high probability of any of the following:

() — Alarge number of deaths in the affected population;

(i) A large number of serious injuries or long-term disabilities in the
affected population;

(iii) 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;

(iv) International exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a
significant risk to the health of citizens of other countries; or

(v) Trade and travel restrictions;

(9) Quarantine refers to the physical separation and confinement of an individual or groups
of individuals, who are or may have been exposed to a contagious or possibly
contagious disease and who do not show signs or symptoms of a contagious disease,
from non-quarantined individuals, to prevent or limit the transmission of the disease.

‘SEC. 4. Creation of the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control. - The
Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) is hereby created as an attached
agency to the Department of Health (DOH) for policy and program coordination.

SEC. 5. Powers, Functions, and Duties. - The CDC shall be the technical authority on all
matters regarding disease prevention and control. To carry out the provisions of this Act, the
CDC shall have the following powers, functions, and duties:

(a) Policy and Standards Development:

(1) Provide technical guidance to the development of policies, programs, standards,
guidelines, and monitoring and evaluation systems on the forecasting, prevention,
monitoring, and control of diseases, injuries, and disabilities both of national and
international concern;


(2) Set the standards and the process for the establishment of Epidemiology and
Surveillance Units or its corresponding surveillance reporting units, pursuant to
law,

(3) Provide quality assurance programs to ensure the quality of testing for
laboratories;

(4) Conduct researches for development in support of the CDC mandate to forecast,
prevent, monitor, and control diseases, injuries, and disabilities both of national
and international concern;

(5) Recommend to the President, through the DOH Secretary, the declaration of a
state of public health emergency, in case of an epidemic of national or international
concern; and,

(6) Set the parameters for the declaration of the existence as well as the end of an
epidemic.

(b) Capacity Building and Technical Assistance:

(1) Develop, implement, and maintain training programs on specialized fields such as
field epidemiology, health emergency of biological concern, laboratory services,
infectious and tropical diseases, and non-communicable diseases;

(2) Assess and support the capabilities of health facilities and local government units
(LGUs) on forecasting, preventing, monitoring, and controlling diseases, injuries,
and disabilities both of national and international concern; and,

(3) Provide technical assistance and expert services to DOH offices, and collaborating
and implementing agencies or offices on matters pertaining to forecasting,
preventing, monitoring, and controlling diseases, injuries, and disabilities both of
national and international concern.

(c) Sectoral and Local Engagements:

(1) Promote coordination and collaboration with partner agencies and organizations
on matters pertaining to CDC mandate;

(2) Coordinate, collaborate, and disseminate relevant scientific and technical
information in a timely manner with partner agencies and international and local
organizations on matters pertaining to CDC mandate; and,

(8) Disseminate relevant scientific and technical information in a timely manner with
partner agencies, and international and local organizations on matters pertaining
to CDC mandate.

(d) Surveillance:

(1) Develop, implement, and maintain an integrated surveillance system of diseases, |
injuries, and disabilities;

(2) Provide technical guidance on the development, implementation and
maintenance, and monitoring of health system capacity such as operational
capacities of health facilities, and performance management of the response



systems, in terms of contact tracing, quarantine, isolation, and other significant
population-based health services,

(3) Investigate and respond through surveillance and disease notification,
investigation, and conduct of field studies and research to outbreaks, epidemics,
and other public health threats as the need arises;

(4) Develop and maintain a network of public health laboratories in support of
epidemiology and surveillance activities;

(5) Facilitate the issuance of appropriate warnings to the regional CDC and health
facilities in anticipation of impending public health threats and infectious disease
outbreak;

(6) Utilize various information and communication technologies (ICT) in management
of data and dissemination of early warning and other appropriate information to
stakeholders and the public; and,

(7) Develop communication methods for wider and more effective and unified delivery
of critical public health information with national or international importance.

(e) Provide technical guidance on the procurement of vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics;

(f) Provide technical guidance on the monitoring and evaluation framework for disease
prevention and control;

(g) Certify to the existence of an epidemic which shall be treated as a public health
emergency; and,

(h) Perform such other functions as may be mandated by law, or as may be duly delegated
by relevant authorities.

SEC. 6. Director General. ~ The CDC shail be headed by a Director General with a rank of
Undersecretary, who shall be assisted by two (2) Deputy Directors General with a rank of
Assistant Secretary. The Director General and the Deputy Directors General shall be
appointed by the President from a list of at least three (3) nominees for each position to be
submitted by the DOH Secretary, The Director General and Deputy Directors General shall
have at least ten (10) years of relevant experience and proven expertise in the fields of public
health and epidemiology.

The Director General shall have the following powers and functions:
(a) Manage and direct the activities and functions of the CDC;
(b) Advise the DOH Secretary on policy matters concerning the Center's activities;

(c) Recommend to the President, through the DOH Secretary, the exercise of special
powers in case of an epidemic, including the declaration of a public health emergency;

(d) Act as the national International Health Regulations Focal Point, subject to consultation
with DOH; and,

(e) Perform other functions and powers that may be assigned by the DOH Secretary.


SEC. 7. Transfer of DOH Units and Functions. - The following DOH units and their
concerned divisions and functions are hereby transferred to the CDC:

(a) Epidemiology Bureau;
(b) Research Institute for Tropical Medicine;

(c) Sexually Transmitted Disease - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Cooperative
Central Laboratory;

(d) Select functions of the International Health Surveillance Division of the Bureau of
Quarantine as follows:

(1) Passive international health surveillance; and,

(2) Development of communication methods for wider and more effective delivery of
critical public health information with international importance; and,

(e) Technical and standard setting functions of the Disease Prevention and Control
Bureau including that of the Mental Health Division, Cancer Division and Oral Health
Division.

Alll powers, functions, assets, capital, records, funds, receivables, equipment and facilities
of the transferred DOH units or its division or function enumerated herein shall be
transferred to the CDC. The Department of Heath shall conduct an audit and inventory of
assets, liabilities and human resources of the transferred agencies to CDC without need
of conveyance or transfer of assignments.

SEC. 8. Regional Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. - There shall be

established Regional Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (RCDCs) in all regions of

the country. Each Regional CDC shall be headed by a Regional Director, who shall be under
the supervision of the CDC Director General.

The functions of RCDCs include

(a) Prevention, control, and surveillance of diseases;

(6) Provision of laboratory services for detection and identification of infectious disease
agents from human, environmental samples, and food;

(c) Maintenance of an integrated data management system;

(d) Implementation of quality assurance programs for clinical and environmental
laboratories through training, consultation, certification and proficiency testing;

(e) Policy development;

() Emergency response;

(g) Public health-related research;
(h) Training and education;

(i) Maintenance of infectious disease hospitals for referral and management of cases;


() Establishment of strong communication networks; and,
(k) Other functions that may be assigned by the Director General.

The RCDCs shall be composed of specialists in the fields of infectious diseases, public health,
epidemiology and similar fields

SEC. 9. Structure and Staffing Pattern. —

(a) The CDC shall initially have the following offices, each to be headed by an officer
with the salary and rank of Director IV:

(1) Center for Epidemic Intelligence and Disease Surveillance;

(2) Center for Research, Training, and Reference Laboratory;

(3) Center for Infectious Disease Emergency Preparedness and Response;
(4) Center for Policy and Program Development;

(8) Communications Office; and

(6) Administrative and Finance Office.

(b) The CDC Director General, subject to the issuance of an executive order by the
President and approval of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), may
create or abolish units, offices, or centers as needed to carry out all provisions of this
Act.

(c) The CDC Director General, in consultation with the DOH and the DBM, shall:

(1) Develop the organizational structure of the CDC at the national, regional, and
local levels;

(2) Determine the divisions and specific functions of each unit, center, or office of
the CDC; and

(3) Determine the staffing pattern, qualification standards, compensation, and
position classification plan for the CDC subject to the approval of the Civil
Service Commission (CSC) and the DBM.

SEC. 10. Qualifications Standards for Appointment and Promotion. — The DOH shall, in
consultation with the CSC, and pertinent agencies as may be necessary, develop the
qualification standards in terms of education, training and experience for all technical and non-
technical positions in the CDC, and the system for promotion and succession plan in the CDC.

SEC. 11. Continuing Competency Development Program. — The CDC shall, through the
Director General, devise and implement a continuing competency development program
whereby all core personnel shall be required to update and enrich competencies through
attendance in programs, studies, researches, fellowships, workshops, seminars, including
training opportunities in reputable foreign CDCs. Compliance with the Continuing Competency
Development Program shall be the mandatory basis for promotion within the CDC. The CDC
shall develop mechanisms to tap funding opportunities to implement its Continuing
Competency Development Program.


SEC. 12. Modernization Program. - The Director General shall, in consultation with the DOH
‘and other concerned agencies of government and the private sector, develop a modernization
program that will strengthen the human health resource of the CDC, which is the key
component of the country's disease prevention and control policy. The modernization program
shall include the acquisition and upgrading of appropriate technologies, laboratories, facilities,
equipment, other needed resources, and the needed relocation and acquisition of additional
land or location that would house the CDC.

Within one hundred eighty (180) days after the effectivity of this Act, the Director General shall,
upon the recommendation of the DOH and DBM Secretaries, submit the modernization
program for the consideration and approval of Congress in a joint resolution of the House of
Representatives and the Senate.

The modernization program shall be implemented over a period of five (5) years.

Appropriations for the modemization program shall be provided in the annual General
Appropriations Act (GAA).

SEC. 13. Strengthened Epidemiology, Public Health Surveillance, and Research
Capacities. - To ensure that epidemiology and public health surveillance services are efficient
and responsive, and public health surveillance and research capacities are strengthened and
updated to international standards, the CDC shall:

(a) Prioritize investments in upgrading of ICT and adequate and capacitated human
resources for epidemiology, public health surveillance, and public health and clinical
research;

(b) Have a premier facility for clinical laboratory, epidemiologic and implementation
research, and training on infectious and tropical diseases;

(c) Develop performance-based incentives to private health facilities with established
epidemiology and surveillance functions;

(d) Re-nationalize local epidemiology and surveillance units (LESUs) that will solely
provide epidemiology and disease surveillance services and provide assistance to
the LGUs in the establishment and maintenance of surveillance systems, data
management, and generation of strategic epidemiologic information: Provided, That
the DOH, CDC, and DBM, shall develop the staffing pattern and qualification
standards: Provided, further, That LESUs shall be under the direct supervision and
control of the Regional CDCs;

(e) Retain and provide incentives to technical experts, practitioners and scientists,
whereby the scientific career system is adopted, allowing them to continue their
respective clinical and professional practice to pursue research studies and receive
grants and honoraria, in consultation with the CSC. Qualified employees of the CDC
and its attached units shall be covered by Republic Act No. 8439, otherwise known
as "Magna Carta for Scientists, Engineers, Researchers and Other Science and
Technology Personnel in Government,”

(8) Develop and implement training and research programs to develop more experts and
practitioners in the field of epidemiology, and disease prevention and control; and,

(g) Develop a mechanism to ensure interoperability and accessibility of surveillance
systems.


SEC. 14. Strengthened Disease Surveillance and Response. ~ The CDC shall establish
integrated disease surveillance and response systems utilizing, whenever necessary, all
technological means available while ensuring that data privacy and patient confidentiality are
maintained. The CDC and authorized public health authorities shall have complete access
and right to collect personal information and other data, as may be deemed necessary in
fulfillment of their mandate. All data or information and samples collected pursuant thereto
shall be used for public health concern purposes only and shall be exempted from the
provisions of R.A. No. 10173, otherwise known as the “Data Privacy Act of 2012” on
accessibility of data

SEC. 15. National Reference Laboratories.— The CDC shall establish a new, state of the art
facility that will serve as the National Reference Laboratory (NRL), unifying all NRLs for
biological, chemical, nuclear and radiologic emergencies under one roof, within 5 years from
the effectivity of this Act: Provided, That the existing NRLs in the East Avenue Medical Center,
Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney Transplant Institute
and San Lazaro Hospital shall continue to be under the respective hospitals: Provided further,
That these existing NRLs shall serve as referral laboratories of the CDC and be included in
the Modernization Program of the CDC.

The NRL shall provide technical recommendations, laboratory confirmatory services, training,
and external quality assurance, and perform surveillance, outbreak response, kit evaluation,
and research. It shall oversee the functions and performance of the network of subnational
laboratories (SNL).

‘SNLs shall be established in all regions, with the capability of conducting confirmatory testing
for routine surveillance samples and performing specialized tests. SNLs, whose functions
include testing for routine surveillance and specialized tests, shall be under CDC
administratively. Hospitals housing the SNLs shall create a separate unit for their regular
hospital laboratory needs.

The CDG, through the NRLs and SNLs, shall provide technical guidance and quality
assurance programs to biosafety levels 2, 3 and 4 laboratories in the country, which shall be
registered with, and regulated by the DOH.

SEC. 16, Authority to Solicit, Negotiate, and Receive Donations, Grants, Gifts, Legacies,
Endowments, and Contributions. - The CDC may solicit, negotiate with, and receive from
any public or private domestic or foreign sources legacies, gifts, donations, grants,
endowments, contributions or other transfers of ownership and/or possession of real or
personal properties of all kinds in favor and for the benefit of the CDC, which shall all be part
of the special account in the general fund managed by the Bureau of Treasury.

The Director General shall prescribe the measures necessary for the proper use, maintenance
safekeeping, and compliance with the terms and conditions, if any, of said donations, grants,
‘endowments, contributions or transfers in accordance with pertinent accounting and auditing
laws, rules and regulations.

SEC. 17. Tax Exemptions. - Donations, grants, gifts, endowments, legacies, and
contributions used actually, directly and exclusively for the purpose of the CDC shall be
‘exempt from donor's tax and the same shall be considered as allowable deduction from gross
income for purposes of computing the taxable income of the donor, in accordance with Sec.
34 (H)(2)(a) of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended. Likewise, such other
transfers of ownership and/or possession of real or personal properties of all kinds shall be
exempt from all taxes.

SEC. 18, Joint Congressional Oversight Committee - There shall be a Joint Congressional


Oversight Committee on Disease Prevention and Control, jointly chaired by the Chairpersons
of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, and the House of Representatives
Committee on Health. It shall be composed of five (5) members from the Senate and five (5)
members from the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Senate President and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively.

‘SEC. 19. Appropriations. - The initial amount needed for the implementation of this Act shall
be charged against the current year’s appropriations of the offices and the RITM herein
absorbed by the CDC. Thereafter, the funding of which shall be included in the annual GAA.

‘SEC. 20. Transitory Provisions. —

(a) Upon effectivity of this Act, the CDC shall develop a Framework for Infectious Diseases
and Pandemic Preparedness, and prioritize the strengthening of the following
functions:

(i) Integrated disease surveillance and response;
(i) Sentinel surveillance;
(iii) Laboratory-based surveillance;
(iv) Periodic population-based surveillance; and,
()__ Preventing transmission of communicable diseases.

(b) The CDC shall initially prioritize disease surveillance and prevention and control of
infectious diseases. Within five (5) years from its creation, and upon positive
recommendation by an independent study or body commissioned by the DOH, the
surveillance, prevention and control of non-communicable diseases shall be included
in its mandate;

(©) For the year during which this Act was approved, the unexpended portion of the
budget of the offices and units transferred shall be utilized for establishing the CDC
and initiating its operations, including the formulation of the rules and regulations
necessary for the implementation of this Act;

(d) To the greatest extent possible and in accordance with existing laws, all employees
of the affected offices, agencies and units shall be absorbed by the CDC. Personnel
hired on a permanent basis and with appointments attested by the CSC who may be
affected by the transition of DOH units to CDC, or who will not be absorbed in the
new positions of the new staffing pattern of the different offices in the CDC, shall have
the option to:

(1) Be transferred to other units or offices within the DOH without reduction in pay;
or

(2) Avail of the applicable retirement benefits as provided under R.A. 6856, entitled
“An Act to Protect the Security of Tenure of Civil Service Officers and Employees
in the Implementation of Government Reorganization” and other relevant laws;

(e) Incumbent DOH officials and employees of affected DOH offices may apply for and be
transferred to the CDC, subject to an evaluation of their competency and CSC
regulations;


(f) Research grants acquired during the transition of DOH transferred units to CDC shalt
be utilized solely for the grants’ intended purposes for each of the affected units or
offices, and shall not be made available for budget realignments;

(g) Existing contracts and agreements entered into by the affected offices with third
parties prior to the enactment of this Act shall remain valid.

‘The DBM, DOH, and CSC shall issue the implementing guidelines to ensure fair, orderly, and

transparent implementation of paragraphs (e) and (f) of this section.

SEC. 21. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within one hundred and twenty (120)
working days from the effectivity of this Act, the DOH Secretary shall promulgate the
necessary rules and regulations for its implementation.

SEC. 22. Separability Clause. - If any portion or provision of this Act is declared invalid or
unconstitutional, other provisions hereof shall remain in full force and effect

SEC. 23. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules, and regulations or other
issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or
modified accordingly,

SEC. 24. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the
Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,