House creates two new health agencies

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading the creation of the Virology Institute of the Philippines (VIP) and the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control (PCDPC).

Voting 198-0-0 and 193-6-0, the lower chamber approved House Bill No. 9559 creating the VIP and HB 9560 creating the PCDPC.

Quezon Rep. Angelina Helen Tan, one of the primary authors of the VIP Act, said the virology institute would facilitate the country’s preparedness against pandemic or public health emergencies like the COVID-19.

Only the six Makabayan lawmakers from Bayan Muna, Gabriela, ACT Teachers and Kabataan voted against the passage of the PCDPC bill because of the supposed displacement of employees of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and the epidemiology bureau under the Department of Health and other government agencies whose jobs would be affected with the creation of the center for disease prevention and control. —NESTOR CORRALES