Contact Details

Rm. N-411, House of Representatives, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
+63 2 931 5497, +63 2 931 5001 local 7370

Press Statements

The valiant efforts of the Philippine health authorities, private health facilities, healthcare frontlines and local government officials against the COVID-19 pandemic must be immediately complemented with more test kits, supplies and equipment to reduce the country’s mortality rate which is at a high of 6.32%.

As positive cases increase in the provinces, the need for test kits, personal protective equipment, face masks, sanitary gloves, ventilators, medicines and allied supplies becomes more urgent nationwide like in the Bicol Region where the zero positive incidence has been breached with four confirmed cases.

Press Statements

The less people know about the status and developments of the campaign against COVID-19, the more they fear, and lack of official and reliable information breeds false news.

The Department of Health, concerned health facilities and all coordinating agencies must regularly announce or broadcast updated accurate reports on the contagion for national, regional and local dissemination.

Press Statements

Patriotism and self-protection in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic demand the temporary ban on overseas deployment of Filipino healthcare professionals and workers like physicians, nurses, and laboratory technicians.

The United States reportedly plans to relax the entry of medical professionals and workers to lure them to work in its fight against the global contagion.

Press Statements

The nine Representatives who voted against the “Bayanihan Act” also want to help the Duterte administration combat the COVID-19 pandemic, but did not want to enact a law which contains provisions offensive to the Constitution.

The generation of forced or contrived savings by impounding, discontinuing, reprogramming, and reallocating budgetary items for projects, programs and activities in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) has been struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Araullo vs. Aquino (G.R. No. 209287, July 1, 2014), which invalidated the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) together with the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Press Statements

No statute can create or grant competent leadership, relentless political will and requisite efficiency even as there are sufficient funds and powers available to President Rodrigo Duterte to combat the COVID-19 pandemic without the need of an enabling law.

The “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” granting additional powers to the President to address the contagion is superfluous and unconstitutional.

In the first place, there is no need for the President to ask the Congress to declare a state of national emergency in the wake of the deadly virus because he himself has the authority to make such a declaration.