ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Solon bats for Medical Reserve Corps

Solon bats for Medical Reserve Corps

Published Jul 5, 2020 09:26 am

Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte has proposed the establishment of the Medical Reserve Corps to augment the country’s human health resources in times of disasters and heath emergencies. 
 
Villafuerte filed House Bill No. 7007 or the proposed “Medical Reserve Corps Act of 2020” in response to the country’s lack of medical personnel, which according to him, is “a key weakness” in the government’s battle against COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
“The bill proposes to establish a Medical Reserve Corps which shall be composed of all persons who have degrees in the field of medicine, nursing, medical technology, and other health-related fields, but have yet to have their respective licenses to practice,” Villafuerte said in his bill's explanatory note.
 
The House leader said under his bill, in times of national emergencies and other contingencies, the members of the Medical Reserve Corps may be called upon and mobilised to assist the national government, its agencies and instrumentalities, and the local government in their functions related to addressing the medical needs of the public. 
 
HB 7007 provides that the Secretary of Department of Health (DOH) shall initiate the mobilisation, in coordination with the Secretaries of the Department of National Defense (DND), Department of Education (DepEd), and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)or their duly authorised representatives with a rank of at least Undersecretary. 
 
“This bill seeks to uphold the role of medical and health-related personnel in nation-building. Being involved in the frontlines of a public health emergency is a patriotic act, and the reserve corp’s vital role necessitate that their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being are protected,” Villafuerte said. 
 
The bill tasks the DOH to evaluate the requests for deployment. 
 
"When the number of personnel requested exceeds 150 or the period of deployment exceeds 60 days, the DOH shall made a recommendation to the Office of the President (OP) within 24 hours from receipt of the request. The OP shall decide whether to approve or disapprove the request within 24 hours from receipt of the recommendation of the DOH,” it said.
 
After the request for deployment is approved, the DOH is tasked to issue an Order of Deployment requiring the Corps, or a number of them, to assist the national government. 
 
Under HB 7007, in case of a declaration of a state of war, state of lawless violence or state of calamity, the DOH may motu proprio recommend the mobilisation of the Corps to the President of the Philippines.
 
The bill also empowers the Chief Executive to order the mobilisation of the Corps to respond to national or local contingencies related to external and territorial defense, internal security and peace and order and/or disaster risk reduction management. 
 
For those who failed to respond to the order of deployment despite notice sent to the address and/or contact details on file with the DOH without any justifiable reason shall, upon the conviction by a civil court shall be slapped with the following penalties: 120 hours of community service for first offense; 240 hours of community service for second offense; and six months of imprisonment and 480 hours of community service for third and subsequent offenses. 
 
Villafuerte’s bill seeks the establishment of mobilization centers in each province and city as needed according to the number and geographical distribution of the Corps, where they will report in case of deployment.
 
The bill also calls for the setting up of a Medical Reserve Corps Fund, which will be exclusively used for the implementation of the proposed Act. 
 
The OP is tasked to monitor and evaluate the activities and balances of the Fund, which shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA).
 
The DOH shall formulate and approve the necessary implementing rules and regulations of the proposed Act within 30 days from its effectivity. 
 
The implementing rules and regulations shall include provisions on the structure and organisation of the Corps, the specific mechanisms for the efficient mobilization and deployment of the Corps, and such other matters as the DOH may deem necessary or essential to fully implement the objectives of the proposed Act.
 

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.