Solon hails passage of key COVID response bill
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez welcomed on Wednesday the passage of the proposed law creating the medical reserve corps (MRC) - of which he is an author - at the House committee level.
Rodriguez said the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for an MRC during health emergencies and calamities.
“We saw the lack of medical personnel to attend to those infected by new coronavirus, leaving our hospital front-liners thoroughly overwhelmed and exhausted,” said the lawyer-solon, who chairs the Committee on Constitutional Amendments.
Rodriquez said that due to physical and emotional exhaustion, the health workers had to call for a two-week timeout last August, which President Duterte heeded by keeping Metro Manila and other high-risk areas under stricter quarantine restrictions.
He added that the proposed reserve group is patterned after the same organization established in the United States in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City and other targets.
Rodriguez penned House Bill (HB) No.7627, one of the at least 11 measures filed in the current 18th Congress that called for the institutionalization of a medical reservists group. A substitute bill representing the consolidation of all the measures was approved Tuesday in a virtual meeting by the Committee on Health.
Committee chairperson, Quezon province Rep. Angelina Tan said medical reservists “are needed in times like this when we are going through a COVID-19 pandemic and in case of disasters as well.”
She said many hospitals in Metro Manila and other parts of the country are short of medical staff due to the current health crisis. "If we have a reserve force, they could temporarily take the place of tired front-liners who have to take a break from toxic and risky work."
Tan added that the creation of a medical reserve corps “will strengthen the national preparedness and response of the government to public health emergencies and reduce the adverse health, economic and social impact of pandemics on the Filipino people.”