Quezon City 5th district Rep. PM Vargas (Facebook)

A Quezon City solon is pushing for the immediate passage into law of the measure creating the Philippine Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), emphasizing the lurking threat of new Covid strains and other deadly viruses.

According to Quezon City 5th district Rep. PM Vargas, Filipinos cannot afford to get hit by another pandemic like Covid-19, which ravaged the local economy and the health system.

“Together with my brother, former Congressman Alfred Vargas, we served as witnesses to the pain and suffering of our people during the height of pandemic," the rookie congressman said.

"We cannot be caught off-guard...[we] better be prepared to protect our communities against communicable and non-communicable diseases," he added.

As one of the principal authors of the approved CDC measure in the House of Representatives, Rep. Vargas joins his colleagues in calling on their Senate counterparts to “adopt an integrated, comprehensive, and evidence-informed approach consistent with the direction enunciated under the Universal Health Care (Republic Act No. 11223)".

House Bill (HB) No.6522 states the need to “adopt a framework that shall foster a whole-of-system, whole-of-government, and whole-of-society approach, ensuring clear delineation of tasks between existing agencies and maximizing current mandates".

It also highlights that the State shall “allot the necessary support and institutional resources to provide for effective disease prevention and  control through a high-level public institution imbued with the capacity, competence, and authority to confront global and local public health risks".

The bill has been approved on third and final reading and was transmitted by the House to the Senate on Dec. 14, 2022. The Senate version is currently on its second reading as of April 2023.