Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
17™ Congress
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. __7950

AN ACT EMPOWERING THE PHILIPPINE INSTITUTE OF
TRADITIONAL AND COMPLEMENTARY HEALTH CARE BY
VESTING UPON IT REGULATORY POWERS, PROVIDING IT
WITH AUGMENTED HUMAN RESOURCES AND UPGRADED

EQUIPMENT, ESTABLISHING TESTING LABORATORIES
AND FIELD OFFICES, AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8423 AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS

THEREOF

Introduced by
REPRESENTATIVE CONRADO M. ESTRELLA III

EXPLANATORY NOTE

According to the World Health Organization, 60% of the
of the world’s population depends on traditional medicine and
80% of the population in developing countries depends almost
entirely on traditional medicine practices and herbal medicines
for their primary health care needs.!

In the Philippines, during the ancient times when
contemporary medicines and medical practices were still
beyond sight, diseases were prevented and treated, just like in
other parts of the world, through folkloric herbalism and crude
health care practices. And despite the remarkable decline in
the use of these traditional remedies due to breakthroughs in
orthodox medicine, the well-entrenched practice of alternative
medicine still thrived more especially in rural areas and among
those living below the poverty line. Thus, because of its
recognized importance and notable retinue, the former DOH

Chikezie PC, Ojiako OA (2015) Herbal Medicine: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,

Altern Integr Med 4: 195. Doi: 10.4172/2327


Secretary, Juan M. Flavier, first launched the novel Traditional
Medicine Program in 1992 followed by the signing into law of
Republic Act No. 8423 otherwise known as the Traditional and
Alternative Medicine Act (TAMA) of 1997 by the former
President, Fidel V. Ramos.

Today, because of the recurring rise in the acceptability
of traditional and alternative health care brought about mainly
by the seemingly high prices of western medicine, people tend
to revert to organic foods, medicines and therapies in dealing
with their wellness giving anew the traditional and alternative
health care system a boost. Nonetheless, it is unfortunate to
note that the rise in the demand for traditional and alternative
health care products and modalities in the Philippines is not
met with a concurrent increase in safeguards that will
adequately ensure safety, standardization, efficacy, quality,
availability and preservation of all the products and services
that are made available to the public.

Truly, it is not just opportune but it is also of great
necessity to revisit the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act
of 1997 and introduce necessary amendments to make it more
responsive to the call of the present time.

Thus, this piece of legislation.

This bill is primarily designed to attain the ultimate goal
of providing the people with a wider range of quality, safe,
effective and cost-efficient health products and services by
enabling more the State to meet head-on the challenges
besetting the Traditional and Alternative Health Care Industry.

Without any intention to trivialize or discount the
regulatory capacity of the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), this bill seeks to empower the Philippine Institute of
Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC), the principal
body created by virtue of RA 8423 to carry such powers and
functions relative to the Philippine Traditional and Alternative
Medicine. Should it be signed into law, this bill shall


strengthen the administrative and technical capacity of
PITAHC and, more importantly, transfer to and justly vest
upon it, the necessary police and regulatory powers to be
exercised over the Traditional and Alternative Health Care
Industry. Certainly, empowering the PITAHC with the
necessary capacities and regulatory powers shall enable it
further to effectively discharge its all-embracing mandate all
geared towards an improved quality health care system for the
Filipino people.

Hence, the immediate passage of this proposed bill is
earnestly sought.

CON

Republic of the Philippines


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
17™ Congress
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 7950

Introduced by ABONO Party-list
REPRESENTATIVE CONRADO M. ESTRELLA III

AN ACT EMPOWERING THE PHILIPPINE INSTITUTE OF
TRADITIONAL AND COMPLEMENTARY HEALTH CARE BY
VESTING UPON IT REGULATORY POWERS, PROVIDING IT
WITH AUGMENTED HUMAN RESOURCES AND UPGRADED

EQUIPMENT, ESTABLISHING TESTING LABORATORIES
AND FIELD OFFICES, AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8423 AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS

THEREOF

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

CHAPTER I
Title

SEC. 1. The Philippine Institute of Traditional and
Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) is hereby renamed to
Philippine Institute of Traditional and Complementary Health
Care. Thus, this Act shall be known as the ‘Philippine
Institute of Traditional and Complementary Health Care
(PITCHC) Act of 2018”.

CHAPTER IL
Declaration of Policy

SEC. 2. It is hereby declared the policy of the State to
further protect and promote the right to health of the people by
providing them with a wider range of health products and


services that are safe, efficient, cost-effective and of quality by
strengthening the country’s traditional and complementary
health care system.

In line with this policy, the State must empower and
strengthen a competent and bona fide agency which shall
effectively govern and regulate the Traditional and
Complementary Health Care Industry.

CHAPTER III
Objectives

SEC. 3. In general, this Act aims to strengthen the
Traditional and Complementary Health Care System in the
Philippines to provide the people with a wider range of health
products and services that are proven to be safe, efficient,
effective and of quality at much affordable prices.

As such, this Act primarily and specifically seeks to empower
the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Complementary
Health Care (PITCHC) through the following:

a. By transferring from the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) and vesting upon PITCHC, on top of all its other existing
powers, the necessary police and regulatory powers to be
exercised over the Traditional and Alternative Health Care
Industry; and

b. By enhancing and strengthening the PITCHC’s
administrative and technical capacity through the
augmentation of its human resources, upgrade of its
equipment, and establishment of testing laboratories and field
offices of its own.

CHAPTER IV
Definition of Terms

SEC. 4. As used in this Act, the following terms shall
mean:


(a) Traditional and Complementary Health Care (TaCHC)/
Traditional and Complementary Health Care System. The
sum total of knowledge, skills, and practices on health care
other than those embodied in biomedicine, used in the
prevention, diagnosis and elimination of physical or mental
disorder.

(b) Traditional and Complementary Health Care Industry.
This term shall embrace all matters related, directly or
indirectly, to the Traditional and Complementary Health Care
System including but not limited to businesses, structures,
entities, practitioners, centers, products, devices, services and
modalities.

(c) Biomedicine. That discipline of medical care advocating
therapy with remedies that produce effects differing from those
of the diseases treated. It is also called “allopathic medicine”,
“western medicine”, “regular or mainstream medicine”,
“orthodox medicine”, or “cosmopolitan medicine”.

(c) Complementary Medicine (sum total of all products and
modalities). An all embracing term to include both imported,
non-allopathic or non-indigenous health products and
modalities which are not necessarily used or practiced for
centuries nor handed down from one generation to another.

(d) Complementary Health Care Modalities. These are
healing methods classified under Alternative Health Care
Medicine which shall include reflexology, acupuncture,
massage, acupressure, chiropractic, nutritional therapy and
similar methods.

(c) Traditional Medicine (sum total of products and
modalities). The sum total of knowledge, skills, and practice
on health care, not necessarily explicable in the context of
modern, scientific, and philosophical framework but
recognized by the people to help maintain and improve their
health towards the wholeness and wellness of their being, their
community and society, and their interrelations based on
culture, history, heritage and consciousness. Traditional
medicine shall include, for purposes of this Act, Chinese,
Indian and other foreign traditional medicines that have been
introduced into and have been legally certified as such,
registered and approved in the Philippines.


(e) Traditional health care modalities. These are healing
methods that are handed down by tradition from our ancestors
such as the practice of “hilot” and other similar practices.

(f) Practitioners. This generic term shall refer to all persons
performing either traditional or complementary health care
modalities, whether in their individual capacity or as an
employee of a TaCHC center.

(g) Entities. This generic term shall refer to manufacturers,
importers, exporters, distributors, wholesalers,
establishments, facilities, and warehouses of and businesses
dealing with health products; drug outlets; practitioners;
TaCHC schools and training centers; and traditional and
TaCHC centers.

(h) Services. This generic term shall refer to the following

(1) all traditional or complementary health care
modalities performed on a consumer;

(2) other TaCHC-related services such as those rendered
by warehouses and traditional and complementary health care
schools and training centers; and

(3) the sum total of the services offered and rendered by a
TaCHC center.

(i) Visitorial Power/Power to Inspect. The power to access
records and premises of the covered entities at any time of the
day or night whenever work is being undertaken therein, and
the right to copy therefrom such records, and to question and
investigate any fact, condition or matter which may be
necessary to determine violations or which may aid PITCHC in
the enforcement of this Act.

(j) Centers. This generic term shall refer to all places, centers
or clinics where traditional or complementary health care
services are being rendered or performed.

(k) Health Product/Products. This all-embracing generic term
shall refer to all traditional or complementary health care
preparations regardless of their physical state; disposal
(whether given for free or sold in retail or wholesale); and
classification, nomenclature (ie. herbal medicines, phyto
medicine, natural products, nutriceuticals, etc.), and definition
under RA 8423 and its corresponding Implementing Rules and
Regulations.


(l)Devices. This generic term shall refer to all traditional or
complementary health care equipment, techniques, machines,
instrument, implement, and other similar materials which are
intended to be used either alone to elicit a desired health
benefit or as a means to perform or render a particular
modality.

(m) New Health Product, Device or Modality. This generic
term shall refer to any of the product, device or modality
defined in this Act, whether local or foreign but which has
been introduced into the Philippines, which has not yet been
generally recognized as safe for use under prescribed
conditions by experts qualified to evaluate its quality and
safeness.

CHAPTER V
Police and Regulatory Powers

SEC.5. Transfer to and vesting upon PITHC Police
and Regulatory Powers. — Without any intention to trivialize
the regulatory capacity of the FDA, the necessary police and
regulatory powers over the Traditional and Complementary
Health Care Industry are hereby transferred from the FDA and
vested upon PITCHC to fully empower and enable the latter to
effectively discharge its mandate and to further its purposes
and objectives under the law.

SEC.6. Regulatory Functions.- No traditional and
complementary health care practice, service or business shall
be allowed unless duly certified or authorized; and no
traditional and complementary health care product, device, or
modality shall be sold, dealt with or made available to the
public unless duly registered, approved and certified, all by the
Philippine Institute of Traditional and Complementary Health
Care.

Thus, to carry out this mandate and all the other provisions of
this Act, PITCHC shall have the following functions and
powers, in addition to those already stated in Section 6 of RA
8423:


(a) To prescribe the necessary guidelines, criteria and
requirements to be complied with in the registration of new
health products, devices or modalities.

(b) To establish health product standards of identity,
purity, safety, efficacy and quality based on validated and
accepted analytical data;

(c) To assume primary authority to inspect, collect and
analyze samples of all health products covered by this Act;

(d) As a condition for registration, approval or
certification, to require and conduct appropriate tests on all
health products that are intended to be made available to the
public to ensure safety, efficacy, purity and quality.

(e) To prescribe guidelines and criteria which shall serve
as basis for its evaluation and determination of adulterated
and misbranded/mislabeled health products and for the
proper handling or disposal of the same.

() To issue certificates of compliance or grants of
authority to manufacturers, importers, exporters, distributors,
wholesalers, drug outlets and other establishments and
facilities of health products after spot-check and/or after their
due compliance with technical and regulatory requirements.
These certificates or grants shall serve as license of the covered
entities to operate and/or to continue operating.

(g) To establish a training center for trainers using its
existing resources and facilities. The training center shall serve
as demonstration area and venue for the conduct of continuing
health care education for professors, consultants and trainers,
who themselves must be PITAHC accredited, involved in the
art and science of alternative health care throughout the
country.

(h) To accredit or certify schools or training centers that
are seeking to offer standardized traditional and
complementary health care education or programs and to hold
relevant trainings after their due compliance with technical
and other regulatory requirements.

(i) To issue license or authority to practice TaCHC to
qualified applicants after passing the required standard
examinations to be conducted after their due compliance with


the required relevant instructions and training programs taken
only from such PITCHC-accredited or established traditional
and alternative health care schools or training centers. The
standard examination shall be required to all persons seeking
to practice TaCHC except those who are expressly exempted by
this Act.

(j) To require practitioners, as a condition for the annual
renewal of their certificates or grants of authority to practice,
to undergo mandatory continuous learning programs and
trainings relevant to their field.

(k) To accredit, after due compliance with all the
appropriate guidelines and requirements, centers that are
seeking to offer TaCHC services.

(l) To approve, after establishing the necessary guidelines
and criteria, traditional and complementary health care
modalities that can only be availed of by the public. Modalities
that may be newly introduced in the Philippines shall only be
approved after the necessary study, evaluation and tests to
ensure its safeness and efficacy.

(m) To require foreign or Filipino practitioners who have
been certified by foreign jurisdictions to undergo the required
examination provided for under paragraph (i) of this Section
and to show proofs of the programs and trainings they have
undertaken from and the authority of the certifying body in
such foreign jurisdiction before granting them the authority to
practice in the Philippines. Further, should they qualify, their
practice shall only be limited to such modalities that are
already approved by the PITCHC. Should they intend to
introduce a modality that is not yet PITCHC-approved,
paragraph (1) of this Section, in addition to herein
requirements, shall apply.

(n) To exercise visitorial power and the power to inspect
over all traditional and complementary health care
establishments, buildings, facilities, centers and schools to
ensure compliance with the provisions of this Act and such
other applicable laws.

(o) To issue cease and desist orders, motu proprio or upon
a verified complaint, to covered entities in case of an identified


or reported violation of or in case of a grievance arising from
entities, products or services covered by this Act.

(p) After observance of due process, to order the ban,
recall, and/or withdrawal of any health product or the
cancellation or revocation of certificates or authorizations
granted to an entity or practitioner covered by this Act in case
of death of, serious illness or injury to a consumer or if it be
found that such health product, service or entity is imminently
injurious, unsafe, dangerous or grossly deceptive.

(q) To levy, asses, and collect fees for analysis and testing
of health products and inspection of all entities covered by this
Act.

(rt) To maintain a surveillance system to continuously
monitor and regulate the traditional and complementary
health care industry.

(s) To conduct an independent investigation on and
maintain records of health and safety issues arising from the
Traditional and Complementary Health Care industry.

(t) To initiate appropriate legal actions, whenever
necessary or applicable, against any person found to be
violating any of the provisions of this Act.

(u) To prescribe standards and guidelines on and regulate
information dissemination, advertisements and promotions,
and other marketing activities regarding traditional and
alternative health care products and services.

(v) To establish and maintain a bonded warehouse/s,
whenever necessary or appropriate, as determined by the
director-general to be used as storage for confiscated health
products unless the same are deemed to be destroyed.

(w) To exercise such other powers and perform such other
functions as may be necessary to carry out its duties under
this Act.

CHAPTER VI
Special Rules and Exemptions

SEC. 7. Traditional Medicine Practitioners.
Recognizing the unique manner of obtaining the knowledge
and skills of traditional medicine, it being handed down from


one generation to another without the influence of formal
education or training, practitioners belonging to this category
shall be exempt from the standard examination required by
this Act. Nonetheless, they are still mandated to acquire the
necessary grant of authority in accordance with the guidelines
to be prescribed by PITCHC. It shall be necessary for
traditional practitioners to establish the length of time for
which they have been known to have practiced Traditional
Medicine and prove that, in the course of their practice, no
related complaint, whether reported or not, was made against
them.

Further, should they dispense, whether for a fee or not,
or use as a modality traditional health products, practitioners
must seek for the approval of the same.

SEC. 8. Practitioners with Disability/Blind Masseurs.
Persons with disability or visually-impaired persons seeking to
offer massage services or traditional or complementary health
care services shall likewise be exempt from the standard
examination required by this Act. Nonetheless, they shall be
required to obtain the necessary certification from PITCHC
after due compliance with the necessary instructions and
trainings from accredited training schools or centers under the
guidance of or in coordination with the National Council on
Disability Affairs, TESDA/DECS/CHED, and other relevant
government agencies.

CHAPTER VII
Prohibited Acts and Penalties

In view of its applicability over the traditional and
complementary health care industry, the following prohibited
acts and penalties provided for under Republic Act 9711,
otherwise known as the Food and Drug Administration Act of
2009, and Republic Act 3720, otherwise known as Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act, are hereby faithfully adopted except for
some modifications to make the provisions more in keeping
with the rest of this Act:


SEC. 9. Prohibited Acts.
A. Health Products

(a) The manufacture, importation, exportation, sale,
offering for sale, distribution, transfer, non-consumer use,
promotion, advertising, or sponsorship of any health product
that is adulterated, unapproved, unregistered or misbranded.

(b) The adulteration or misbranding of any health
product.

(c) The refusal to permit entry or inspection as authorized
by paragraphs (k) and (0) of Section 6 hereof or to allow
samples to be collected.

(d) The giving of a guaranty or undertaking referred to in
the second paragraph of Section 10 (A)(b) hereof which
guaranty or undertaking is false, except by a person who relied
upon a guaranty or undertaking to the same effect, signed by,
and containing the name and address of the person or entity
from whom he received in good faith the health products or the
giving of a guaranty or undertaking referred to in Section
twelve (b) which guaranty or undertaking is false.

(e) Forging, counterfeiting, simulating, or falsely
representing or, without proper authority, using any mark,
stamp, tag, label, or other identification devise authorized or
required by regulations promulgated under the provisions of
this Act.

(f) The use by any person for his own advantage, or
revealing other than to the Secretary or officers or employees of
the Department of Health or to the courts when relevant in any
judicial proceeding under this Act any information acquired by
virtue of the PITCHC’s exercise of its visitorial power or power
to inspect.

(g) The alteration, mutilation, destruction, obliteration, or
removal of the whole or any part of the labeling of, or the doing
of any other act with respect to health products if such act is
done while such article is held for sale (whether or not the first
sale) and results in such article being adulterated or


misbranded Provided, a retailer may sell in smaller quantities,
subject to guidelines issued by the PITCHC.

(h) The use, on the labeling of any health product or in
any advertisement relating to the same, of any false or
misleading representation or suggestion with respect to the
registration of such product.

(ij) The manufacture, importation, exportation, sale,
offering for sale, distribution, transfer, non-consumer use,
promotion, advertisement, or sponsorship of any health
product which, although requiring registration, is not
registered with the PITCHC pursuant to this Act.

(j) The sale, offering for sale, importation, exportation,
distribution or transfer of any health product beyond its
expiration or expiry date, if applicable.

(k) The act of intentionally committing fraud and
misrepresentation or use of falsified or forged documents in
obtaining the necessary PITCHC approval or certificate or
grant of authority. This is without prejudice to the exercise of
PITCHC of its power to revoke or cancel certificates, grants or
approval it has issued.

B. Traditional and Complementary Health Care Services

(a) The practice of any of the approved TaCHC modalities
by any person or TaCHC center without the appropriate license
or grant of authority to practice.

(b) The continuous practice of any of the approved TaCHC
modalities by any practitioner or TaCHC center whose
accreditation or grant of authority has already expired or has
been cancelled or revoked.

(b) The practice of any unapproved TAHC modalities by
any person, whether certified or not to practice in the
Philippines.

(c) The mere act of introducing to the public by any
person, certified or not, of a TAHC modality that is not validly
approved by PITCHC.

(d) The act of a certified practitioner of allowing a person
to commit an unauthorized practice of TaCHC whether it be
under his direct or indirect supervision.


(e) The act of assisting in an unauthorized practice of
TaCHC, whether for profit or not.

(f) The act of using traditional and alternative health
products and services to cause injury, illness or death to a
consumer/customer.

(g) Offering TaCHC programs and trainings or rendering
TAHC services by schools or training centers without the
appropriate certification or approval of PITCHC.

(h) Rendering TaCHC services by accredited schools or
training centers that are beyond the scope of their approved
programs and trainings.

(i) The act of committing fraud and misrepresentation or
use of falsified or forged documents in obtaining the necessary
PITCHC approval or certificate or grant of authority.

(j) The refusal to permit entry or inspection as authorized
by paragraphs (k) and (0) of Section 6 hereof.

C. Any other act which violates or undermine any of the
explicit powers of or which tends to impede the PITCHC from
exercising any of its functions provided for in this Act.

SEC. 10. Penalties.
A. For Health Products

(a) Any person who violates any of the provisions of
paragraph A of Section 9 hereof shall, upon conviction, suffer
the penalty of imprisonment ranging from one (1) year but not
more than ten (10) years or a fine of not less than Fifty
thousand pesos (P50,000.00) but not more than Five hundred
thousand pesos (P500,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the
court: Provided, that if the offender is a manufacturer,
importer or distributor of any health product, the penalty of at
least five (5) years imprisonment but not more than ten (10)
years and a fine of at least Five hundred thousand pesos
(P500,000.00) but not more than Five million pesos
(P5,000,000.00) shall be imposed Provided, further, That an
additional fine of one percent (1%) of the economic value/cost
of the violative product, or One thousand pesos (P1,000.00),


whichever is higher, shall be imposed for each day of
continuing violation: Provided, finally, that health products
found in violation of the provisions of this Act and other
relevant laws, rules and regulations may be seized and held in
custody pending proceedings, without hearing or court order,
when the director-general has reasonable cause to believe from
facts found by him/her or an authorized officer or employee of
the PITAHC that such health products may cause injury or
prejudice to the consuming public.

(b) No person shall be subject to the penalties of
subsection (a) of this section (1) for having sold, offered for sale
or transferred any article and delivered it, if such delivery was
made in good faith, unless he refuses to furnish on request of
PITCHC’s authorized inspectors or duly designated officer or
employee, the name and address of the person from whom he
purchased or received such article and copies of all
documents, if any there be, pertaining to the delivery of the
article to him; (2) for having violated Section 9-A (a) if he
established a guaranty or undertaking signed by, and
containing the name and address of, the person residing in the
Philippines from whom he received in good faith the article.

B. For acts prohibited under Section 9 (B) and (C)

Any person who violates any of the provisions of
paragraph (B) and (C) of Section 9 hereof shall, upon
conviction, suffer the penalty of imprisonment ranging from
one (1) year but not more than ten (10) years or a fine of not
less than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) but not more than
Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00), or both, at the
discretion of the court.

The imposition of penalties under both paragraphs (A)
and (B) of this section shall be without prejudice to the
issuance of cease and desist order or to the exercise of PITCHC
of its power to revoke or cancel certificates, approvals or grants
it has issued and/or to the filing of appropriate civil or
criminal action, whenever appropriate or necessary.


In case of illness, injury or death as provided for under
paragraph (f) of Section 9, the intentional use of traditional or
complementary health care product/service shall not
constitute a separate crime. Rather, the use or employment of
such product or service shall serve as an aggravating
circumstance as provided for by the Revised Penal Code.

Should the offense be committed by a juridical person,
the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the president, general
manager, or the partners and/or the persons directly
responsible therefore shall be penalized.

Should the offense be committed by a foreign national,
he/she shall, in addition to the penalties prescribed, be
deported without further proceedings after service of sentence.

CHAPTER VIII
The Executive Officers of the Institute

SEC. 11. Section 9 of RA 8423 is hereby amended to read as
follows:

SEC. 9. (a) Director General. The Institute shall be
headed by a Director General who shall be appointed by the
President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the
Secretary of Health for a term of six (6) years. The Director
General shall enjoy the benefits, privileges and emoluments
equivalent to the rank of Undersecretary.

As Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, the Director
general shall exercise general supervision and control over the
operations of the Institute save those affairs that are
exclusively within the function of the Board.

(b) Deputy Directors General. The Director General
shall be assisted by such Deputy Director(s) General whose
term shall be determined by the Board. The Deputy Directors
shall be career official(s) and shall enjoy the benefits, privileges


and emoluments equivalent to the rank of an Assistant

Secretary.

(c) Other Officers. The Director General shall likewise
be assisted by department managers/coordinators and such
other officers as the Board may authorize. The position, titles,
ranks and emoluments of such officers shall be determined by
the Board.

SEC. 12. Transfer of Power from the Board to the
Director General. The power to appoint, transfer, promote,
suspend, remove or otherwise discipline any subordinate
officer or employee of the Institute shall be transferred from
the Board and be vested upon the Director General, and
thereby, effectively amending Sections 8 and 10 of RA 8423.

CHAPTER IX
PITCHC Centers and Offices

SEC. 13. To facilitate the conduct of business and the
discharge of its responsibilities, the Philippine Institute of
Traditional and Complementary Health Care shall have the
following centers and offices:

(a) Three major centers shall be established, namely:

(1) Center for Health Product and Devices

(2) Center for Traditional and Complementary Health
Care Practice which may be subdivided further into two
sections: one, for modalities and two, for practitioners

(3) Center for TaCHC Training Schools and TaCHC
Centers and Warehouses.

Each center shall be headed by a Director. The Center for
Health Product Regulation and Research shall have at least
three divisions: (1) licensing and registration division, (2)
product research and development division, and (3) Laboratory
support division. The two other centers shall have at least two


divisions: (1) Authorizing/Certifying Division and (2) Research
and Development Division.

(b) The Administration and Finance Office to be headed
by the deputy director-general for administration and finance.
It shall consist of the Human Resource Development Division,
Human Resource Management Division, Property and Logistics
Management Division, Assets and Financial Management
Division, and the Information and Communication Technology
Management Division.

(c) The Field Regulatory Operations Office to be headed by the
deputy director-general for field regulatory operations.

(d) The Policy and Planning Office which shall include a
training, advocacy and communications division shall be
responsible for the performance monitoring of the product
research and development centers.

(e) The Legal Services Support Center which shall provide
legal services to and for the entire PITAHC.

CHAPTER X
Testing Laboratories and Field Offices

SEC. 14. Testing Laboratories. There shall be
established, in addition to the main laboratory at the central
office, at least one testing laboratory strategically located in
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. These laboratories shall be
equipped with the necessary and appropriate equipment and
personnel complement.

SEC. 15. Field Offices. There shall be established
field/satellite offices upon which appropriate powers and
functions of the PITCHC may be devolved upon. These offices
shall be mainly comprised of administrative, licensing,
inspection and compliance divisions.

CHAPTER XI
Human Resource


SEC. 16. The PITCHC shall review its staffing pattern,
positions, and titles. New or additional positions, titles, or
ranks, shall be created if there be a need for additional
manpower as identified and determined by the Director
General and approved by the Board.

SEC. 17. Transfer of personnel from the Food and
Drug Administration. Personnel of the FDA who are charged
with functions relative to traditional and complementary
health products and who may be disadvantaged by the
implementation of this Act shall be transferred to PITCHC
without any loss of any benefit, incentives or seniority rights
that are already existing at the time of the implementation of
this Act.

CHAPTER XI
Retention of Income

PITCHC shall have the right to retain all of its income
derived from the operations of the Herbal Pharmaceutical and
Processing Plants and its other income _ generating
services/activities and shall be utilized to augment its needed
maintenance and operating expenses, capital outlays,
upgrading and modernization.

CHAPTER XII
Miscellaneous Provisions

SEC. 18. Appropriation. The amount necessary for the
implementation of this Act shall be charged against the
current appropriations of the Philippine Institute of Traditional
and Alternative Health Care. The appropriation may be
augmented by the income which the PITCHC is authorized to
retain and use under this Act. Thereafter, such amount as
may be necessary for the continued operation of the PITCHC
shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.


SEC 19. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The
DOH, in consultation with the PITCHC, shall promulgate the
implementing rules and regulations of this Act within one
hundred twenty (120) days following the passage of this Act.

SEC. 20. Separability Clause. If any provision of this
Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining
provisions or parts thereof not otherwise affected thereby shall
remain valid and subsisting.

SEC. 21. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees,
executive orders and issuances, ordinances, rules and
regulations, or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 22. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen
(15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in two
(2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,