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

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSEBILLNO. 603 __

Introduced by HON. EDGAR M. CHATTO.
First District, Bohol
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EXPLANATORY NOTE

The global coronavirus or Covid 19 pandemic gave the greatest challenge to our
medical frontliners. Surge after surge of covid cases overwhelmed hospitals and medical
personnel. The daily increase in covid cases also saw the daily increase in health care
workers declared positive. Time came when the medical frontliners were, themselves,
battling with the disease. And hospitals were left with dwindling number of healthcare
workers to respond to the steady rise of covid cases.

To address this concern and prepare for future similar occurrences, this legislative
measure propdses the creation of a Medical Reserve Corps with the purpose of supporting
the country’s health system in times of public health emergencies or health threats.
Primarily, this Medical Reserve Corps will allow the employment of new graduates and
practitioners 7 other related medical fields for the purpose of augmenting human helath
resources.

This roster of reserve medical personnel shall come from retired licensed physicians;
medical students who have completed four (4) years of medical course, graduates of
medicine, and registered nurses who may be issued by the Secretary of Health with a
limited and special authorization to render medical service pursuant to Republic Act No.
2382, oth known as the Medical Act of 1959; and other licensed allied professionals.
Training will be given by the Department of Health.

Having this Medical Reserve Corps will efficiently provide support where it it due in
times of public health emergencies. This will ensure continuous health care even in the
worst of times.

For the foregoing reasons, the passage of this proposed legislative measure is
earnestly sought.

EDGAR M. CHATTO



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

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

| HOUSE BILL NO. 603

Introduced by HON. EDGAR M. CHATTO
First District, Bohol

| AN ACT
INS iG THE MEDICAL RESERVE CORPS AND APPROPRIATING
FUNDS THEREFOR

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

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Medical Reserve Corps

SEC. 2, Declaration of Policy. — Article II, Section 15, of the Constitution
enjoins the State to protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health
consciousness among them. Article XIII, Section 11 also provides for the adoption of an
integrated and comprehensive approach to health development. The State further reiterates
its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3, which
calls on the State to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

The State recognizes the need for a reserve force of highly skilled and medically
trained professionals and volunteers who can be mobilized to maintain the capacity to meet
surges in the demand for the country’s healthcare system and provide assistance as may be
needed in poe of health crises.

Pursuant to this, it is the policy of the State to maintain a strong, proactive and
responsive healthcare system at all times, the workforce complement of which can be
expanded rapidly by a well-trained and well-equipped Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) in
times of publi¢ health emergency and health threats. Towards this end, the State shall
enhance the capacity of the nation to produce and call on the needed manpower and expand
its human health resources in times of disasters and public health emergencies of both
national and lo¢al scale through the mobilization of the MRC.

SEC. 3. Medical Reserve Corps Service. - There is hereby established an MRC
whose primary mission is to support the country’s health system in times of public health
emergencies or health threats, and which shall be composed of the following:

a. Licensed physicians including those who are retired and those who are no longer
practicing in the hospital setting. The Department of Health (DOH) may
coordinate and collaborate with the accredited integrated professional
organization or accredited professional organization of physicians for the
engagement of private practitioners;

b. Medical students who have completed four (4) years of medical course, graduates
of noticine, and registered nurses who may be issued by the Secretary of Health
with 4 limited and special authorization to render medical service pursuant to
Republic Act No. 2382, otherwise known as the Medical Act of 1959; and



c. Licenged allied health professionals.

The MRC shall be organized, trained, developed and maintained so as to ensure their
readiness to anmmetiately respond to the call to service.

SEC. 4, Organization. - The MRC shall be under the control and supervision of
the Health Emergency Management Bureau (HEMB) of the DOH.

The DOH shall develop an effective and efficient MRC organization and structure
that is responsive to national and local disasters and other public health emergencies, under
such rules and regulations as the Secretary of Health may prescribe.

SEC. 5, Registration and Training. - The DOH shall draft guidelines for the
recruitment, selection, compensation, and provision of incentives for joining and continued
membership, and length of service of the MRC members.

The DOH shall also prescribe a continuing training program for the MRC recruits
and members, through written, practical and simulation activities on various aspects of
health emergency management and response and on the different health emergency
situations an cern such as natural and man-made disasters, epidemics, pandemics,
and other threats to public health. To this end, all recruits must undergo:

a. Compulsory basic training for a period to be set by the DOH on disaster and
health emergency response, the organization and structure of the MRC, and such
other) areas as may be prescribed by the DOH. Recruits shall be given
compensation for their attendance thereto; and

b. Continuing training and other activities to be conducted in coordination with
relevant and qualified agencies in the private and public sector, including the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction
and Management Council, to improve and reinforce skills. All registered members
shall undergo continuing training on a regular basis to upgrade their proficiency.

Successful completion of the compulsory basic training shall be a requisite for
admission into the MRC. Successful completion of activities in the continuing training
program shall be a requisite for promotion within the MRC.

SEC. 6, Registry and Accounting of Members of the MRC. ~ Registered
members of the MRC shall be issued individual serial numbers which will serve as their
identification in case of deployment.

The DOH shall maintain and update a registry or database containing the names of
the members of the Corps, their serial numbers, address, contact details and such other
information as the DOH may determine, in accordance with applicable privacy laws. For
this purpose, all public and private colleges, universities and learning institutions shall
transmit annually their records of the graduates covered under this Act to the DOH.

An MRC Identification Card that describes the certification information of Corps
members, as well as other necessary identifying information that may be determined by the
DOH, shall also be issued.

All graduates covered under this Act are required to update their addresses and
contact details on file with the DOH as often as necessary. Orders of deployment sent to the
addresses and/or through the contact details on file with the DOH shall be sufficient notice

for purposes of deployment.


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In cases when a graduate has changed address immediately prior to deployment, the
LGU shall immediately exert efforts to locate his known closest resident kin, who is then

mandated to exert similar efforts. The use of digital communications and social media shall
be encouraged in locating such graduates.

SEC. m1 Medical Reserve Corps Mobilization. — The prompt mobilization of
the MRC shall be carried out by authority of the Secretary of Health, upon the
recommendation of the Director of the HEMB or upon the request of national government
agencies or k government units (LGUs), in order to meet the needs of the populace in
times of public health emergencies, whether of local or national scale, and for such other
purposes in response to threats to public health.

The MRC may be mobilized partially or in full as may be necessary. The DOH shall
promulgate the mechanisms by which deployment is efficiently implemented, including the
organization of the Corps to be deployed, their territorial assignments, how deployment
orders are communicated to each member of the Corps and to which mobilization center
they will report.

As defined in Republic Act No. 11332, otherwise known as the “Mandatory Reporting
of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act,” public health
emergency reférs to an occurrence or imminent threat of an illness or health condition that:

(a) 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;

(ai) A natural disaster;
(iv) A chemical attack or accidental release;

(y) 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:

(i) A large number of deaths in the affected population;

Gi) A large number of serious injuries or long-term disabilities in the affected
pulation;

(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.

SEC. 8. Deployment Order. - The President of the Philippines, upon
recommendation of the DOH, may order the nationwide mobilization of the MRC to
complement the AFP Medical Corps in case of a declaration of a state of war, state of lawless
violence or state of calamity.

SEC. 9, Mobilization Centers. - There shall be established in each province as
many mobilization centers as needed to which members of the MRC shall report to when
mobilization ioe


Mobilization centers may be any establishment or facility that can adequately house
the MRC members, and their equipment and supplies during the period of deployment,
including multi-purpose halls, gymnasiums, and other similar structures, based on other
requirements that the DOH shall prescribe. The DOH shall, in consultation with the local
executives, prescribe the location of the mobilization centers. The local executives shall
disseminate to|the widest extent possible information to the public on the location of these
centers.

SEC. Jo. Mobilization Stock. - The minimum essential individual and
organizational| and medical equipment and supplies shall be procured, stored, and
maintained to enhance rapid transition to readiness required for employment in the
shortest possible time.

The DOH shall ensure and maintain the necessary capacity to scale up the
procurement of these equipment and supplies as needed during the period of mobilization.

SEC. 11. Enlistment of the AFP. - The Secretary of Health may enlist the AFP to provide
expertise on the organization and structure of the MRC for efficient, effective and swift
deployment, as well as for training of the MRC recruits on disaster and emergency response.

The Sectetary of Health may also recommend to the President the enlistment of the
AFP to supplement the mobilized MRC for the purpose of providing logistics and manpower
for large-scale operations in times of public health emergency, contact tracing and
monitoring of suspected cases, enforcing—quarantine measures in specific areas or
facilitating the transport of emerging infectious diseases patients, and for such other related

purposes.

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SEC. 12. Protection to MRC Members. ~ All MRC members shall be accorded
protection as provided by existing labor laws and standards and other relevant occupations,
safety, environmental, and social legislation.

SEC. 13. Compensation and Benefits. — Members of the MRC who render
service shall receive all the pay and allowances, medical care, hospitalization, other
privileges and benefits during the period of mobilization as prescribed by law or regulation.
They shall also continue to receive all pay, allowances, and other privileges and benefits
from their regular employment during the mobilization period in accordance with law.

SEC. 14. Legal Liability and Malpractice Insurance. — No MRC member
shall be held liable for the death of or injury to any person or for the loss of, or damage to,
the property of any person where such death, injury, loss, or damage was proximately
caused by the circumstance of an actual public health emergency or its subsequent
conditions, or the circumstances of the formal exercise or training if such formal exercise or
training simulates conditions of an actual emergency.

The Insurance Commission is mandated to develop public health emergency-specific
malpractice insurance policy or modify existing policies that would protect. MRC
professionals’ efforts from any legal liability as provided for by this Section to allow them to
respond in good faith during public health emergencies.

This Section shall not preclude liability for civil damages as a result of gross
negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct.

SEC. 15. Termination of Deployment. — Upon the expiration of the period of
deployment, without an extension having been requested and approved by the DOH,
members of the MRC who are deployed pursuant to a public health emergency shall be
discharged from the performance of their duties. The deployment may also be terminated
earlier upon aj determination by the DOH, in consultation with the requesting national
government agency or LGU, that such deployment is no longer required in accordance with


this Act.

SEC. 16. Annual Reports. — The DOH shall regularly publish an annual report
containing a list of the accomplishments, status of the operations, demographic profile of
the membership of the MRC, an assessment of readiness for mobilization, and the incidence
and details of each mobilization for the year concerned. The annual report shalll also include
the results of the audit investigation on the spending of funds appropriated, collected, or
advanced for the implementation of the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 17. Failure to Respond to Deployment. - Any member of the MRC who
fails to respond to the order of deployment without any justifiable reason despite due notice

shall be required to reimburse the total expenses incurred by the government in the
member's itment, selection, training, and compensation, as may be determined by the
DOH.

SEC. 18. Appropriations. —The Secretary of Health shall immediately include in
the Department's Program the implementation of this Act, the funding of which shall be
included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

the effectivity of this Act, the DOH shall promulgate the necessary guidelines for the

entation of this Act.

SEC. 19. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within thirty (30) days from
effective impl

SEC. 20. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the validity of the other provisions shall not be
affected thereby.

other issuances, or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
ified accordingly.

SEC. 22. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

“meri

SEC. 2 ocraa Clause. — All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations,
repealed or m