1 | P a g e
TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE 
 ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES  
 ) 
First Regular Session     
 ) 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
H.B. NO. _____ 
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE EMMARIE “LOLYPOP” OUANO-
DIZON 
AN ACТ 
INSTITUTING THE MEDICAL RESERVE CORPS AND 
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The 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 proposes 
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 in other related medical fields for the purpose of 
augmenting human health 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, otherwise known as the
Medical Act of 1959; and other licensed allied professionals. Training will be given
by the Department of Health.
July 31, 2025
4:15 pm
2841


2 | P a g e
Having this Medical Reserve Corps will efficiently provide support where it 
is 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. 
EMMARIE “LOLYPOP” OUANO-DIZON 


3 | P a g e
Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. _____ 
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE EMMARIE “LOLYPOP” OUANO-
DIZON 
AN ACТ 
INSTITUTING 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 Act." 
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. 
2841


4 | P a g e  
 
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 times 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 public 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 local 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 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, otherwise known as the Medical Act of 1959; and 
c. Licensed allied health professionals. 
 
The MRC shall be organized, trained, developed and maintained so as to 
ensure their readiness to immediately 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. 


5 | P a g e  
 
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 and scenarios, 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 DOН, shall also be issued. 


6 | P a g e  
 
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. 
 
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. 7. 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 local 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 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; 
(iii) 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: 


7 | P a g e  
 
 
(i) A large number of deaths in the affected population; 
(ii) 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. 
 
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 is ordered. 
 
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. 10. 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, 


8 | P a g e  
 
effective and swift deployment, as well as for training of the MRC recruits on 
disaster and emergency response. 
 
The Secretary 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 large32 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. 
 
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 


9 | P a g e  
 
be terminated earlier upon a determination by the DOН, 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 shall 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 recruitment, 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. 
 
SEC. 19. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within thirty (30) days 
from the effectivity of this Act, the DOH shall promulgate the necessary guidelines 
for the effective implementation of this Act. 
 
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. 
 
SEC. 21. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, 
other issuances, or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are 
hereby repealed or modified 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. 
 
 
Approved,