House Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (left), and Davao del Norte 1st district Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez (Facebook)

Two former House Speakers are now seeking the legalization of medical cannabis or marijuana in the current 19th Congress.

This, after Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo filed House Bill (HB) No. 7817, or the proposed Act providing compassionate and right of access to medical cannabis, expanding research into its medicinal properties and for other purposes.

The measure, read on the House plenary floor last May 8, has been referred to the Committee on Dangerous Drugs.

“In the Philippines, thousands of patients suffering from serious and debilitating diseases will benefit from legalizing the medical use of cannabis,” Arroyo, a former Philippine president, said in the explanatory note of HB No.7817.

Also pending before the same committee is the earlier filed HB No.6783, or the proposed Act removing cannabis and any form or derivative thereof from the list of dangerous drugs and substances under existing laws, amending for the purpose Sections 3 (J), 11, and 16 of Republic Act (RA) No.9165.

Penned by Davao del Norte 1st district Representative and former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, HB No.6783 seeks to delist marijuana from RA No.9165, also known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Alvarez has said that he also wants marijuana to be legalized primarily for medical use.

In HB No.7817, Arroyo highlighted recent studies showing that cannabis has established effects on the control of epileptic seizures, pain management in multiple sclerosis and arthritis, treatment of symptoms associated with HIV-AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), and palliative care in end-stage cancer treatment.

“Cannabis has many currently accepted medical uses in the US (United States), having been recommended by thousands of licensed physicians and more than 500,000 patients in 26 states including the District of Columbia with medical marijuana laws,” the bill read.

She noted that Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic have enacted medical cannabis laws that remove criminal sanctions for the medical use of cannabis, define eligibility for such use, and allow some means of access, in most cases, though a dispensary.

“While many patients may still opt for conventional and orthodox treatment, the intention of this bill is to invoke the right of the patient to choose treatment and the duty of the physician to honor the patient’s decision as well as to inform the patient of the side effects of such treatment,” Arroyo further said.

The measure tasks the Department of Health (DOH) as the principal regulatory agency in the access and use of medical cannabis. It shall register and issue licenses to qualified entities engaged in activities related to the use of medical cannabis.

A 2012 report of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that there were 98,200 new cancer cases in the Philippines. Some 59,000 people die of cancer every year, it added.

Arroyo was Alvarez's successor to the speakership during the tail end of the 17th Congress.