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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Romualdez, House assure funding for Marcos' veterans clinics

Romualdez, House assure funding for Marcos' veterans clinics

Published Jun 29, 2025 02:35 pm

At A Glance

  • Weeks ahead of this year's budget deliberations, House Speaker Martin Romualdez vowed full congressional support for President Marcos' advocacy to enhance veterans' access to healthcare services, particularly in areas outside Metro Manila.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (left), House Speaker Martin Romualdez (PPAB)
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (left), House Speaker Martin Romualdez (PPAB)


Weeks ahead of this year's budget deliberations, House Speaker Martin Romualdez vowed full congressional support for President Marcos' advocacy to enhance veterans’ access to healthcare services, particularly in areas outside Metro Manila.
“The valor of our veterans and soldiers can never be fully repaid. But in recognition of their invaluable contributions to our nation, we in the House of Representatives, in support of President Marcos’ program, will work to ensure healthcare services, treatments, and medicines are always within their reach,” Romualdez said in a statement Sunday, June 29.
He issued the statement following President Marcos’ launch of the pilot site of the Veterans Access to Lifetime Optimized Healthcare (Valor) Clinic at Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas.
A program of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), the Valor Clinic is designed to meet the healthcare needs of underserved veterans, retired soldiers, and their families.
Romualdez personally committed that all initiatives to deliver primary healthcare services to veterans and retirees will be adequately funded under the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) or national budget.
“With the incoming 20th Congress poised to deliberate on the Executive branch’s National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026, we will make sure that the establishment of more Valor Clinics in underserved areas receives ample support in the national budget,” he added.
The deliberations on the 2026 NEP--the precursor of the GAA--is expected to begin around August this year at the House of Representatives.
He echoed the Chief Executive's position that the welfare of veterans, retirees, and active-duty soldiers must remain a government priority.
“They have sacrificed so much for our country so that we may live in peace and prosperity. Their well-being, especially their health, should always be safeguarded,” the House leader emphasized.
The Valor Clinic initiative aims to decentralize the VMMC’s services by establishing a network of primary care clinics in military installations and hospitals nationwide to address the needs of more than 400,000 veterans, retired soldiers, and their dependents, who remain largely underserved due to logistical and financial limitations.
The government is also considering expanding the scope of the program to include civilian employees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
As envisioned, the Valor Program will roll out in three phases and targets the establishment of 15 clinics nationwide by 2028. Each clinic will be staffed with highly trained medical teams connected via telehealth to the VMMC and will provide services such as immunizations, diagnostic tests, consultations, and maintenance medications. Preventive medicine and chronic care management will also be among their key services.
In the first phase, Valor Clinics will be established at the following sites: Fernando Air Base in Batangas, Northern Luzon Command in Tarlac, Fort Bonifacio General Hospital in Taguig City, Southern Luzon Command in Quezon, and Camp Riego de Dios in Cavite City.
Under the second phase, additional clinics will be located at: Eastern Mindanao Command in Davao City, Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City, Brigadier General Benito Ebuen Air Base Hospital in Mactan, and Government Arsenal Medical Facility in Bataan.
The third and final phase includes clinics at: Kuta Major Cesar L. Sang-an Hospital in Zamboanga del Sur, Camp Peralta Station Hospital in Capiz, Camp Evangelista Station Hospital in Cagayan de Oro, Camp Melchor F. Dela Cruz Station Hospital in Isabela, Camp Siongco Station Hospital in Maguindanao, and 8th Infantry Division Hospital in Camp General Vicente Lukban, Samar.
Speaker Romualdez has consistently supported initiatives to promote the welfare of the country’s veterans, including the enactment of Republic Act (RA) No. 11958, which rationalized the disability pension of veterans.
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