ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DOST chief to Senate: Support creation of PH virology institute

DOST chief to Senate: Support creation of PH virology institute

Published Oct 31, 2021 01:06 pm

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) urged Sunday, Oct. 31, the Senate to act with dispatch on a bill creating the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines or VIP.

Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines or VIP (DOST)

DOST Secretary Fortunato “Boy” T. de la Peña said funds have already been earmarked for the VIP for 2021 for the implementation of its initial research and development (R&D) projects.

"’Yan ay natutuwa ako kasi mabilis na inaksyonan sa House of Representatives, inaprubahan na nila. Ngayon ‘di pa nate-take up sa Senate, eh sana sana naman suportahan tayo. Napakahalaga ito. ( I am glad that the House of Representatives acted with dispatch, they have already approved the bill. Now, this has yet to be tackled by the Senate, I just hope they will support us. This is very important),” he said in an interview with DZBB.

The VIP bill seeks to institutionalize and build the VIP facilities in New Clark City in Tarlac.

The Lower Chamber unanimously passed on third and final reading House Bill No. 9559 or the proposed VIP Act on July 28, two days after President Duterte asked Congress to enact a law creating the Institute.

De la Peña said while waiting for the passage of the bill, the agency’s implementation of six R&D projects for the VIP is ongoing.

These include Isolation and Purification of Philippine Common Viruses with Medical Importance and Pandemic Potential for Antigen-Antibody Studies; Combination Therapy: Lytic Bacteriophages and Plant Extracts against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria; Detection of Food and Water-borne Bacterial Pathogens using Phage-based Diagnostics; De novo Synthesis of a non-Infective Zika Pseudovirus as Reference for Diagnostics and Vaccines Development; Development of Antibody Test Kits for COVID-19 using Enzyme Immunoassay; and Antigenic Peptides as Potential Candidates for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Vaccine Development.

De la Peña said for 2022, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has already earmarked funds for the VIP.

The DOST inaugurated on Oct. 21 its Biosafety Level 2+ (BSL-2) Laboratory which will enable country’s researchers to work on different virology projects — from plant and animal to human virology in preparation for the upcoming establishment of the VIP.

READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2021/10/21/inauguration-of-bsl-2-lab-part-of-preparation-for-ph-virology-institute-dost/

Related Tags

Fortunato de la Peña Senate PH Virology Institute DOST
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.