MANILA, Philippines -- Following the China milk crisis, there is a need to improve the performance of the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) as a regulatory agency of food and medicine products, authorities said.

Senator Pia Cayetano, chairperson of the committee on health and demography, said BFAD needed to improve its monitoring capabilities, especially after the bureau’s “not enough efforts” to immediately inform the public of the melamine-tainted dairy products from China.

Cayetano also lamented BFAD’s lack of manpower, noting that on an average, there was only one inspector that must look into 500 to 600 establishments per region in a year.

“The inspector doesn’t even have time to finish those 500 establishments in one year, what more to spot check and to do unexpected visits? We need to pour in funds [for BFAD],” said Cayetano.

The need to strengthen BFAD was also among the recommendations presented to government officials Monday by the expert panel of the Congressional Commission of Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE).

“We’re talking about tainted milk products from China and it turns out there are no milk products registered to BFAD and yet available to Filipinos and people tend to use it because it’s cheaper,” Cayetano said in an interview.

Meanwhile, in a conference, the COMSTE health panel, led by Dr. Ramon Arcadio, also recommended the immediate passage of the Philippine National Health Research System (PNRHS) bill; the installation of the National Genome center which will be a venue for studies in tapping stem cell research for new cures; and for universities to prioritize research and development for the top 10 killer diseases in the country.

The panel also wants to see the country as "a nation empowered by research based knowledge, technologies and innovations in health" by 2010.