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

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

8276

HOUSE BILL

Introduced by Rep. Hon. Gabriel H. Bordado, Jr.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Previously known as the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital (BRTTH),
the Bicol Medical Center (BMC) in Naga City serves patients principally coming from the 6
provinces and 7 cities of the Bicol Region aside from conducting teaching/training and
fesearch programs. Pursuant to Republic Act No. 8053, the BMC has been authorized to
operate on a 300 - bed capacity, excluding the Don Susano V. Rodriguez Memorial Mental
Hospital located in Cadian, Pili, Camarines Sur, which has a 200 - bed capacity and which is
likewise under its jurisdiction.

The BMC actually traces its roots to a 25 - bed provincial hospital established in 1933
in a rented Spanish-style edifice in Naga City. Due to inadequate facilities, however, the
provincial hospital folded up in 1936. Four years later, the then Commonwealth government
started building what would be the precursor of the present-day hospital straddling an area
of, more or less, 15 hectares.

At this stage, the BMC gallantly tries to live up to its standing as the premier
government hospital in a region rich in natural resources but ironically saddled by grinding
poverty. Gallantry, though, has its limits especially in the context of the inadequacies
hounding the medical center a couple of decades after its inception. Just imagine that the
BMC has to contend with an average of 850 patients a day — far exceeding its 500-bed
capacity.

This bill, therefore, calls for an increase in the bed capacity of BMC to 1000; a
corresponding upgrade in its service facilities and professional health care; and the
allocation of sufficient funding to effect such overdue reforms, as it were.

Given the urgency of the bill, its immediate is eamestly ‘sought.

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

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. __ 8278

Introduced by REP. GABRIEL H. BORDADO, JR.

AN ACT INCREASING THE BED CAPACITY OF BICOL MEDICAL
CENTER FROM FIVE HUNDRED (500) TO ONE THOUSAND (1000)
BEDS, UPGRADING THE SERVICE FACILITIES AND
PROFESSIONAL HEALTH CARE THEREIN, AND APPROPRIATING
FUNDS THEREFOR

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

SECTION 1. The authorized bed capacity of the Bicol Medical Center (BMC) is
hereby increased from five hundred (500) to one thousand (1000) beds.

SEC. 2. The existing hospital facilities and professional health care services of the
BMC are also hereby upgraded and increased to conform with and be
commensurate to the increase in bed capacity.

SEC. 3. Upon consultation with the BMC, the Department of Health shall, in
coordination with the Department of Budget and Management and the Civil Service
Commission, determine the additional plantilla positions to be created and filled up in
the workforce of BMC.

SEC. 5. The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act shall be

included in the annual General Appropriations Act of the year following its enactment
into law and thereafter.

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SEC. 6. All laws, decrees, orders, issuances, rules and regulations or part thereof
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed and/or modified
accordingly.

SEC. 7. This Act shall take effect within fifteen (15) days after complete publication
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,

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