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Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Sison: Bill expands grounds for legal separation
By Mark Allen C. Sison
EXCESSIVE gambling, bisexuality, forced sexual intercourse and affliction of a sexually transmissible disease may soon be among the grounds for filing a petition for legal separation between husbands and wives.
Representative Ma. Amelita Calimbas-Villarosa (Lone District, Occidental Mindoro) has filed House Bill 4948, which seeks to expand the grounds for legal separation, constituting a combination of at least five prima facie indication of psychological incapacity. The bill amends Articles 36 and 55 of the Family Code of the Philippines.
Villarosa stressed the need to make the grounds for legal separation more responsive to the problems being faced by husbands and wives rather than heed the popular clamor for divorce, which she insisted is not the answer to the worsening social problem.
Villarosa said reasons such as "irreconcilable incompatibility" should never be enough to dissolve marriage, which is a life-long union.
Among the grounds for legal separation that the bill seeks to include in the Family Code are bisexuality of the respondents, excessive gambling, and the act of forcing the petitioner to engage in sexual intercourse through violence and intimidation and affliction of a sexually transmitted disease regardless of its nature, whether or not passed on to the petitioner.
Also included as grounds for legal separation are the attempt by the respondent to the life of the petitioner, his or her descendants and/or ascendants, brothers or sisters, whether full or half-blood; unjustifiable refusal of the respondent to provide support to the petitioner and/or their common children and unjustifiable reluctance of the respondent to engage in a decent occupation or means of livelihood.
These, however, will still be "subjected to confirmatory diagnosis by experts in the field of psychiatry and/or clinical psychology," Villarosa explained.
* * * * *
RP spends US$5.6B for drugs in 5 years
The Philippines spent in five years time a staggering amount of US$5.6 billion for medicines, landing at the top of the list of Southeast Asian nations with high drug spending, various studies conducted by the government, non-government organizations (NGOs) and pharmaceutical groups revealed.
Citing the studies undertaken by the Department of Trade and Industry, NGOs and pharmaceutical groups, Representative Junie Cua (Lone District, Quirino) said the country spent for drugs US$1.247 billion in 1997, US$1.012 billion in 1998, US$1.183 billion in 1999, US$1.118 billion in 2000 and US$1.062 billion in 2001.
Indonesia came as second, spending US$4.417 billion during the five-year period. During the same period, Thailand registered drug spending of US$3.810 billion; Hong Kong, US$1.931 billion; Malaysia, US$1.407 billion; and Singapore, US$1.094 billion.
Cua attributed the country's high drug spending to the exorbitant prices of medicines being sold by private drug stores in the country. He cited in particular five medicines, namely, the anti-bacterial Bactrim Adult 400/80mg tab, whose generic name is cotrimoxazole; the cardiac drug Adalat Retard 20mg tab (Nifedipine); the liprotropic Lopid 3200mg cap; the sympathomimetic drug Ventolin 100mcg/200do (Salbutamol); and the hydantoin Dilantin 100mg cap (Phenytoin).
According to Cua, private drugstores sell Bactrim Adult 400/80mg tablet for P15.60 as against the P7 per tablet retail price of the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), an agency attached to the Office of the President. Adalat Retard 20mg tablet is being sold by private drugstores for P39.75 while PITC sells it for only P15. PITC sells Lopid 3200mg capsule for only P25.77 as against the private drugstores' price of P36.50. Ventolin 100mcg/200do is being sold by the PITC for P280 while private drugstores sells it at P331.50.
Finally, Dilantin 100mg capsule sells at P22.50 in private drugstores while it is only P12 at PITC.
"It is a sad state of affairs that the exorbitant cost of medicines puts them beyond the reach of the marginalized Filipino despite the major advances in pharmaceutical research and development," he said.
He said: "It is not the lack of cure or medicines but the unaffordability thereof that causes one to succumb to death due to illness. Hoping to remedy the situation, Cua filed House Bill No. 4943. The proposed measure will amend Republic Act (RA) No. 8293, otherwise known as The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, Cua said.
The congressman said the bill hopes to protect public health by creating an environment that will lower the prices of medicines through greater competition among drug companies and by providing the government with better policy tools to significantly influence the supply and demand of medicines.
"It seeks to do so through the early working doctrine in the experimentation, production and registration of patented drugs or medicines and its appurtenant data prior to the expiration of patents. This amendment will allow generics manufacturers to commence manufacturing, distribution and sale to the public immediately after the patent expiration," Cua explained.
The bill also considers new uses, molecules or compounds of a patented invention like drugs or medicines as part of the original patent to prevent patented products or processes from doubling or prolonging its protected period or monopoly position in the market.
(January 4, 2006 issue)
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