Wednesday, May 23, 2007 Speedy approval of lower drugs bill seen
EVEN if Congress is on recess due to the elections, there is a sustained effort to hasten the approval of Senate Bill (SB) 2263 which seeks to lower the prices of medicines, said Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas III.
"Even if Congress is in recess for the national polls, we, together with fellow legislators across party lines, our staff and various stakeholders are engaged in constant consultations in order to build a consensus on the lower priced medicines bill," he said.
Recto said the need for quality and affordable medicines for Filipinos is urgent and it is incumbent upon the legislators to exercise political will and push for the measure within the present Congress.
Roxas is the primary author and sponsor of SB 2263 while Senator Pilar Juliana "Pia" Cayetano, chairman of the Senate committee on health, is his co-author and co-sponsor.
He announced that a staff-level meeting would be held on Tuesday to reconcile differences of the Senate and House versions on the bill in preparation for the bicameral conference committee meetings once session resumes on June 4.
"But even before this pre-bicameral meeting, we've been in constant communication with our counterparts in the House and our staff are doing consolidation drafts of the bill," he said.
The Senate has approved the bill on third reading last January 31. The House, meanwhile, has passed its version on second reading last February 20.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has certified SB 2263 as urgent. (CPB/Sunnex)
