Bill creating virology, vaccine institute up for Marcos’ signature
A doctor checks on a patient with sores caused by a monkeypox infection in the isolation area for monkeypox patients at the Arzobispo Loayza hospital in Lima, Peru on August 16, 2022. Nearly 28,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide in the last three months and the first deaths are starting to be recorded. (Photo by Ernesto BENAVIDES / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — A bill that seeks to create the country’s first-ever virology and vaccine institute is a step away from becoming a law.
This situation comes after both the House of Representatives and the Senate ratified the final version of the proposed measure.
During their separate sessions on Monday, the House and the Senate ratified the bicameral conference committee report containing the final version of House Bill (HB) No. 6452 and Senate Bill (SB) No. 2893 or the proposed Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines Act.
With the ratification, the bill will be forwarded to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his signature.
Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda, one of the proponents of the law, said that the passage of the bill will enable the health sector fight diseases and handle other health concerns.
“We lived through COVID. We lost billions to African Swine Fever. Avian influenza keeps coming back. We need our own tools to fight back,” Salceda said.
“The Virology Institute will prepare us before the next outbreak hits, not after. This is our insurance policy against pandemics and food shocks,” he noted.
“These sectors have suffered the most economic damage from viruses. We need early detection, better diagnostics, and local vaccine development for ASF and avian flu,” he added.
Under the bill, the Virology and Vaccine Institute will be an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology, leading research on viruses that affect humans, animals and plants.
According to Salceda, the final version of the bill clarified issues, such as concerns about an overlapping mandate with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.
“Right now, we rely on foreign labs and imported vaccines. This law changes that. We build our own science. We take control of our future,” Salceda said.
“RITM remains the national reference lab. The VIP will do the upstream research. They will work together,” he added.
The House approved the bill on third reading last December 2022, while the Senate approved their version of the measure in February 3, 2025.
READ: Marcos vows funding for vaccine and virology institute project
In the House, 216 lawmakers approved HB No. 6452, while SB No. 2893 hurdled the final reading after 19 affirmative votes, and zero negative votes and abstentions.
READ: Senate OKs bill creating a virology institute
The bill is one of the priority measures mentioned by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his first State of the Nation Address in July 2022./apl
