Barangay Health & Wellness Partylist Representative Angelica Natasha Co (Photo from the House of the Representatives website)
An advocate of barangay health workers and other health care employees' welfare, Angelica Natasha Co is the first nominee congresswoman of the Barangay Health and Wellness (BHW) Partylist in the 19th Congress.
The BHW Partylist represents health care workers, barangay nutrition scholars (BNS), barangay sanitary inspectors (BSIs), and barangay service point officers (BSPOs) in the Philippine Congress.
The group provides medical, educational, and burial assistance to barangay health workers and their families and food aid to those affected by typhoons, according to its website.
Co was born on June 17, 1991. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the Ateneo de Manila University in 2011 and had her internship at the National Children's Hospital, V. Luna Hospital, and The Medical City, according to the BHW Partylist office.
The 31-year-old representative is part of the House majority and now serves as vice chair of the committee on appropriations and public accounts vice chair. She is also the secretary-general of the Partylist Coalition Foundation, Inc., a major bloc in the House of Representatives composed of over 55 members of Congress.
She first served as the BHW representative in 2019. Co is one of the principal authors of the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act or the Republic Act (RA) 11712, enacted on April 27. She also proposed the Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers.
Other bills she supported are the Medical Reserve Corps Act, the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control Act, and the State Universities and Colleges Mental Health Service Act.
For the 19th Congress, Co has vowed "to deepen BHW Partylist's working relations with other sectors of barangay health and wellness," which includes "the caregivers, physical therapists, fitness trainers, and gym entrepreneurs, among others.
"All of them have roles in the wellness and health aspects of their neighbors and clientele. We must push for innovations and reforms that improve the quality of life and work of these sectors," Co has said in a statement.