MANILA – Senate Bill 1647 which seeks to establish a general hospital in Bacolod City has been approved on third and final reading on Monday afternoon. The vote was unanimous, 23-0.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, author of the measure, said the creation of a general hospital is timely, especially during this time of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“There is a clear need for more hospitals to cater to more people, and also to alleviate the pressure on our existing hospitals,” said Zubiri.
“Right now, the whole province of Negros Occidental has only one tertiary government hospital. Bacolod alone has a population of over half a million people. Imagine that,” he added.
The Senate has allotted P600 million for the establishment of the Bacolod City General Hospital, which will be included in the 2022 General Appropriations Act under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program of the Department of Health (DOH).
According to Zubiri, Bacolod City has 561,875 residents, based on the 2015 national census, and all of them rely to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH), which caters to the whole of Negros Occidental, at a 400-bed capacity.
“CLMMRH is already taking patients double its bed capacity. This is unreasonable,” said Zubiri, who has roots from Kabankalan City.
“We saw how our hospitals have struggled throughout the pandemic. They’ve been performing at overcapacity, and our medical frontliners have been severely overworked,” he added.
Bacolod City’s Cong. Greg Gasataya, who was the author of a similar measure in the House of Representatives, thanked the senators.
“Bilang author sang sini nga bill nga una naton nga gin-file sa aton first term sa 17th Congress kag gin-refile sang July 1,2019 sa aton ika-duwa nga termino, kita ang nagapasalamat gid nga madamo sa tanan nga nagbulig, sa tanan nga myembro sang Senado, sa mga kaupod naton sa Congress, DOH, ang local government unit sang Bacolod with Mayor Bing (Evelio Leonardia), Vice Mayor El Cid (Familiaran) and Sangguniang Panlungsod kag sa tanan nga Bacolodnon,” Gasataya said in a statement.
“Daku ang aton kalipay nga aprubado na ang ini nga hagna para matuman ang handom sang tanan nga may kaugalingon na kita nga hospital,” he added. “Nothing is impossible… we bring back all the glory to God.”
With both chambers of the Congress approving the measure, it will now be transmitted to the office of President Rodrigo Duterte for his signature./PN