Some senators were not too keen about the proposed creation of a virology institute under Department of Science and Technology (DOST) as they raised concern that it could result in the duplication of functions among government agencies.
The Senate Committee on Science and Technology discussed on Thursday the Senate Bill No. 1543, filed by Senator Panfilo Lacson, which seeks to establish the Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines (VIP), a research and development agency under the DOST.
During the hearing, DOST officials said such an institute is needed as there no research institute in the country that primarily conducts the study of all areas of viruses, highlighting the outbreak of the COVID-19 as well as other emerging viruses affecting livestock and plants.
Senator Nancy Binay, committee chairperson, observed, however, that there might be an overlap on the functions and mandate of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) of the Department of Health (DOH).
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the RITM's functions could just be expanded to cover the proposed functions of the VIP.
"How come it's not under the DOH, and it's under DOST? Because obviously, at the end of the day, this institution would have to deal with concerns of our country, and if we're gonna talk about health concerns, obviously, it's DOH that would be put in focus," Gatchalian asked.
"We all know that initially RITM is the one facing this pandemic, and in their mandate, they also deal with infectious diseases, so why not just expand the power or the scope of RITM? So we don't have different institutions doing the same thing, overlapping," he added.
Senator Imee Marcos also said that existing bureaus in the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have also been conducting studies on viruses related to animals and plants.
"There's clear overlap in almost every single function that has been listed," Marcos said.
DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña, in response, said the agencies mentioned by Marcos have endorsed the bill. "They just indicated which ones have to be, shall we say, cleared so that there will be no duplication," he told senators.
"We proposed this institute since DOST is on research and development, so that's why we put it under the DOST. And in terms of the RITM, since it's in the DOH, they are more into disease surveillance, epidemiological studies and the VIP is into basic and applied research encompassing all kinds of viruses. Not only for humans, animals, and plants," explained Dr. Annabelle Briones, director of the DOST's Industrial Technology Development Institute.
During the hearing, Food and Drug Administration Director-General Eric Domingo said the DOH likewise supports SB No. 1543, which they said "will address future threats to human lives" and "will enable the country to be in a better position in prevention and response of emerging and reemerging health threats."
He said the DOH recommends, among others, that the proposed VIP focus on vaccine and therapeutic development to complement the functions of the RITM.
RITM Director Celia Carlos clarified to senators that while their agency has an animal research and breeding facility, it is only "being used to provide the needed animals for the clinical and laboratory research, we don't do animal research per se."
"Our research are focused on public health type of research, clinical trials, epidemiologic research, those type of research needed to put into policies for the DOH...We don't do the drug and vaccine development type research," she added.
Carlos also admitted that the RITM is also facing difficulties in performing its mandate due to budget constraints and lack of resources.
Gatchalian maintained that the DOH are the "experts" on health concerns and have much more experience now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"So why not leverage on that wealth of experience from DOH because talagang nabugbog silang sarado in the past few months and yong pagbugbog na yon is also an asset because they learned so much. I'm just saying, creating it another department might not take advantage of that experience," he said.
Under the bill, P2 billion shall be appropriated as an initial fund for the VIP's operations. The VIP office was planned to be built within the New Clark Ecozone in Capas, Tarlac.
Dela Peña said that if the funding requirements for the proposed creation of the VIP could not be provided immediately, the DOST could start with some research using its existing research facilities and equipment.
The DOST was allotted a P284-million budget for 2021 for the acquisition of the necessary equipment for the VIP.