Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF THE REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 6189

Introduced by Honorable FREDERICK W. SIAO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to establish the Northern Mindanao Medical Center-Iligan City Annex in
the Lone District of Iligan City under the supervision and control of the Department of Health.

Section 11, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution provides:

“Sec. 11. 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 all the people at
affordable cost. There shall be priority for the needs of the underprivileged
sick, elderly, disabled, women, and children. The State shall endeavor to
provide free medical care to paupers.””

Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) is a center of wellness and excellence and
an accredited Level IV Department of Health hospital in Region X. Located within the
provincial capitol compound in Cagayan de Oro City, it is a 99-year-old hospital that
metamorphosed from a 20-bed Misamis Public Hospital in 1918 to a 50-bed Misamis Oriental
Provincial Hospital in 1945 then to a 200-bed Northern Mindanao Regional Training Hospital. It
became the 300-bed Northern Mindanao Medical Center on March 11, 1995 by virtue of
Republic Act (RA) No. 7938. RA 10677 which was approved on August 26, 2015 amended RA
7938 by increasing the bed capacity of the NMMC from 300 to 600 beds, hence upgrading its
facilities and increasing its personnel.

As a training center, its eleven (11) programs or specialties are fully accredited by
specialty boards. As a Level IV health facility, it serves and provides the highest attainable
health care in Region X and the neighboring regions, provinces and municipalities.


Iligan City is a highly-urbanized city in Northern Mindanao with a population of 342,618
inhabitants according to the 2015 census. It is geographically located in the province of Lanao
del Norte but administered independently from the province. It was once a part of Central
Mindanao (Region XII) until the province was transferred to Northern Mindanao (Region X) in
2001.

Of the seven (7) hospitals in Iligan City, only one, the Gregorio T. Lluch Memorial
Hospital, also known as the “City Hospital,” is a government hospital. With the establishment of
the NMMC-lligan City Annex, residents of Iligan City no longer need to endure and make the
almost two-hourjourney to Cagayan de Oro City, which further compounds their woes and
financial burdens particularly in times of emergencies. The NMMC-Iligan City Annex will also
provide health care services to the residents of the nearby cities of Marawi and Ozamis, the other
municipalities from Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental.

The establishment of the Northern Mindanao Medical Center-Iligan City Annex is in line
with the NMMC’s vision of providing the highest attainable health care to the people of Region
X and the neighboring provinces in Mindanao.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is earnestly sought



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF THE REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

6189

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by Honorable FREDERICK W. SIAO

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING AN ANNEX HOSPITAL OF THE NORTHERN MINDANAO
MEDICAL CENTER IN THE LONE DISTRICT OF ILIGAN CITY TO BE KNOWN AS
THE NORTHERN MINDANAO MEDICAL CENTER-ILIGAN CITY ANNEX AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

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

SECTION 1. There shall be established an annex hospital of the Northern Mindanao
Medical Center in the Lone District of Iligan City, to be known as the Northern Mindanao
Medical Center-Iligan City Annex which shall be under the supervision of the Department of
Health.

SEC. 2. The Secretary of Health shall immediately include in the program of the
Department of Health the operationalization of the Northern Mindanao Medical Center-Iligan

City Annex, the initial funding of which shall be charged against the current year’s
appropriations for the Department of Health. Thereafter, the amount necessary for the continued
operation of the hospital shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 3. The Secretary of Health shall formulate and promulgate the implementing
guidelines, rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official

Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,