Duterte asks Congress to pass law creating CDC, virology institute

President Rodrigo Duterte asked Congress to pass the bills creating a Center for Disease Control (CDC) and a virology and vaccine institute during in his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.

“We hope to pursue the creation of public entities dedicated to emerging and re-emerging diseases. I, thus, fervently ask Congress to enact a law creating the Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the Virology and Vaccine Institute in the Philippines,” he said.

“Maski gaano tayo kahirap. However poor we are, I think that the Filipinos, given the proper support and the equipment that they have to use, I am sure that the Filipino brain can also process or make toxins in the future,” he added.

Several bills creating the CDC have been filed already in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Senator Joel Villanueva welcomed Duterte’s request to create the Virology and Vaccine Institute.

“Huwag na po tayo umasa sa global suppliers dahil sa matinding backlog sa mga orders. We are at the mercy of foreign manufacturers. Tiwala po tayo sa galing at husay ng ating mga kababayang scientists at researchers. Sapat na pondo at karagdagan resources ang kailangan, at handa po tayong aksyonan ang kanilang mga pangangailangan,” he said.

[Let us not rely on the global suppliers because of the huge backlog of orders. We are at the mercy of foreign manufacturers. Let us trust the competence of Filipino scientists and researchers. We need to provide them enough funds and additional resources and we are ready to act on these needs.]

Duterte also reiterated his call for Congress to pass a bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR), a bill seeking the modernization of the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the bill creating the Department of Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos.

The House has already passed the bill creating the DDR while its counterpart bill is still pending at the committee level in the Senate.

In June, the bill modernizing the BFP was sent back to the bicameral conference committee after the senators rejected the provision which allows the firefighters to carry firearms during fire emergency situations.

Meanwhile, the bill creating the Department of Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos (DMWOF) reached the Senate plenary in May. The House passed its version on March 11, 2020.

Duterte likewise requested the passage of a law which pushes for mandatory education centers in each city, province, municipality in the country that will provide assistance to evacuees in times of emergency.

In the early part of his speech, Duterte also asked Congress for a unified system for the pension of the military uniformed personnel (MUP), and free legal assistance to the members of military and police forces.

The president also asked for the prioritization of three economic bills, namely the Public Service Act, the Foreign Investments Act and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act.

Duterte has certified these bills as urgent last April. — BM, GMA News