Four lawmakers from Camarines Sur, led by Rep. LRay Villafuerte, want the creation of a reserve force of highly skilled and medically trained professionals and volunteers.
This reserve force can then be mobilized at once to help the government enhance the national capacity to meet surges in the demand for our health-care system and provide assistance as may be needed in times of health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is during times of national health emergencies that the members of the Medical Reserve Corps may be called upon and mobilized to assist the national government and the local government units in their functions related to addressing medical needs. This measure allows our hospitals and medical facilities to handle the extreme demand for patient care in times of disaster and health emergencies,” Villafuerte said.
The bill’s co-authors are Representatives Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata and Nicolas Enciso VIII.
Under House Bill No. 1093, the Medical Reserve Corps shall be composed of medical graduates, licensed and retired physicians, licensed allied health professionals, and registered nurses who may be called upon and mobilized to assist the national and local governments in their functions related to addressing the urgent needs of the country’s health-care system during times of health crises or emergencies.
Villafuerte, who filed a similar measure in the previous Congress, said the lack of medical personnel during the initial stages of the country’s fight against Covid-19 has underscored the urgency for the Marcos administration to establish an MRC to ensure that the healthcare system is not overwhelmed during health emergencies and threats.
In case of a declaration of a state of war, state of lawless violence, or state of calamity, the bill authors proposed that the DOH, by its own initiative, may recommend to the President the nationwide mobilization of the MRC, as a complement to the Armed Force of the Philippines Medical Corps.
