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AnaKalusugan Party List
The Anakalusugan party-list has urged the Senate to pass a House bill seeking to create a Medical Reserve Corps (MRC).
Anakalusugan nominee Ray Florence Reyes said the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for an MRC.
Establishing the MRC without delay, he said, will address the need for more health care workers and even vaccinators as part of the government’s COVID-19 response.
“The MRC will reinforce the country’s health system in times of public health emergencies such as this pandemic,” Reyes said.
Anakalusugan party-list is a primary author of House Bill No. 8999 which seeks to create the MRC.
The measure, a priority bill of President Rodrigo Duterte, was approved by the House of Representatives last year.
Under the proposed bill, the MRC shall be supervised by the Health Emergency Management Bureau of the Department of Health, and shall be composed of licensed physicians, medicine graduates, medical students, registered nurses and other allied health professionals, including those who have retired and are no longer practicing in the hospital setting.
The MRC shall be mobilized when an emergency occurs due to a new infectious disease or biological toxin, bioterrorism, a natural disaster, a chemical attack or accidental release, a nuclear attack or accident, or an attack or accidental discharge of radioactive materials, among other threats.
It shall also be deployed to support the Armed Forces Medical Corps during a state of war, state of lawless violence or state of calamity.
MRC members who render service shall receive compensation, medical care, hospitalization and other benefits and privileges during deployment, as prescribed by law or regulation.