President Duterte pushed for the creation of a vaccine institute and the Philippine CDC.
On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte pushed for the creation of a vaccine institute and the Philippine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In his last State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Duterte asked Congress to swiftly pass the bills creating the Philippine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Virology Institute of the Philippines.
The Philippine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Virology Institute of the Philippines were among the priority legislation endorsed by President Duterte during his final address to the nation.
“Today is my last State of the Nation Address but this is by no means my swan song. I shall never cease to implore Congress to pass vital and critical legislation as well as push the entire government to ensure nothing less than the full recovery and revitalization of our country. We hope to pursue the creation of public entities dedicated to managing emerging and re-emerging diseases. I thus fervently request Congress to enact a law creating the Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines,” President Duterte said.
President Duterte also expressed confidence in the Filipinos’ capability to develop the country’s own vaccine supply.
Currently, the Philippines had relied on foreign suppliers for COVID-19 vaccines to be administered to Filipinos. The Philippine government had already secured over 31 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, administering 17 million jabs so far.
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In the same SONA, President Duterte pushed for the swift passage of the bill creating the department of migrant workers and overseas Filipinos. The proposed department, according to President Duterte, would be focused on addressing the needs and taking care of the welfare of Filipinos abroad.
President Duterte also wanted Congress to pass a bill institutionalizing e-governance in the Philippines in order to facilitate the transition of government processes to the digital age.
In addition, President Duterte asked Congress to pass the Disaster Resilience Act that will create the Department of Disaster Resilience in order to help ensure the country’s preparedness and resiliency to natural hazards and disasters.
Also included in President Duterte’s priority bills were the amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Foreign Investments Act, and the Public Service Act, a proposed unified system for separation, retirement and pension of military and uniformed personnel, and free legal assistance to military and police personnel as well.
“Let us also pass the law implementing the Fire Protection Modernization Program to bolster the readiness of our firefighters and ensure their ability to respond to fires and disasters,” President Duterte said.
Also, the President made a pitch for the mandatory establishment of evacuation centers in every city, province, and municipality across the Philippines in order to provide the basic needs and assistance to all evacuees during emergencies.
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