A MEMBER of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (Barmm) parliament is calling on the regional legislature to prioritize the passage of four bills that aim to create new hospitals in the province of Tawi-Tawi.
The proposed bills also seek to upgrade existing medical facilities in Tawi-Tawi expanding their bed capacities and equipment.
The lawmaker noted that it is really a challenge for the people of Tawi-Tawi to go to the nearest urban center, like Zamboanga City, just to get basic health care being the last province of Barmm and the country’s down south.
“There were a number of hospital bills that were passed into law during the first term of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA). Unfortunately, before our first term expired, the hospital bills for the province of Tawi-Tawi didn’t make the cut,” a member of the Bangsamoro Parliament Amir Mawallil said in a statement Friday, September 16.
The BTA is the interim government of Barmm. It is governed by 80 members representing various sectors and organizations in the autonomous region.
Mawallil earlier filed Bangsamoro Parliament Bill No. 103, an act upgrading Datu Halun Sakilan Memorial Hospital in Lamion village, Bongao, Tawi-Tawi into a Level II hospital.
“This (Bill) is meant to promptly increase the hospital’s bed capacity, upgrade its professional healthcare services and facilities, and authorize a plantilla increase of its medical personnel,” he said.
The second measure is Bill No. 128, an act establishing a Level I general hospital in the municipality of Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi.
The third one is Bill No. 135, an act establishing a Level I general hospital with a 25-bed capacity in the municipality of South Ubian, Tawi-Tawi.
The last one is Bill No. 166, an act upgrading the Datu Alawaddin T. Bandon, Sr. Memorial Hospital in the municipality of Sibutu, Tawi-Tawi from its present Level I status.
The Bill No. 166, once approved into a law, will improve its capability from a 10-bed hospital to a 50-bed capacity under a Level II status.
“These bills have not been passed into law because the interim Parliament had to wrap up its term and give way to the incoming members following the extension of the transition period,” Mawallil said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed on August 11 another set of BTA lawmakers composed of new and reappointed members. Mawallil, known for a good track record in the BTA from 2019 to 2022, was among those reappointed.
Mawallil said that there is an urgent need to upgrade the health care facilities in Tawi-Tawi to save the Tawi-Tawians from having to travel to and from different places to avail medical services. (SunStar Zamboanga)