When Congress reopened regular sessions last week, the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Rep. Karlo Nograles (Davao City) approved the budget-related provisions of an important bill that has been gaining the empathy and support of each legislator touched by its advocates.
The pending Cancer Control Act is a landmark legislation that aims to institutionalize a national, integrated, holistic approach to address a disease that is now the third leading cause of death in the country. While the Universal Health Care Bill rightly got emphasis from President Duterte during his State of the Nation Address in July, cancer is a long over-looked complex and specialized phenomenon that demands legislative priority.
The key provisions recently integrated in the latest House version of the proposed law include the establishment of a Cancer Assistance Fund, to be managed by the Department of Health, which will then report regularly to the Office of the President and Congress. The Department of Health may also solicit and receive tax-exempt donations that can be part of the fund. The government’s cancer programs are also due to receive appropriations from the national budget.
Thankfully the bill had found champions in both houses of congress throughout its journey. In the House of Representatives, the first version was filed by Rep. Alfred Vargas (Quezon City), with more than 200 members as co-authors, and was prioritized by the Chairperson of the House Committee on Health, Rep. Helen Tan (Quezon).
In the upper house, both Senator Sonny Angara and Senate Committee on Health Chairman JV Ejercito filed their own counterpart versions. Aside from the two, 14 other senators are counted as co-authors: Loren Legarda, Nancy Binay, Frank Drilon, Migz Zubiri, Ralph Recto, Francis Pangilinan, Richard Gordon, Grace Poe, Sonny Trillanes, Win Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Cynthia Villar, Joel Villanueva, and Panfilo Lacson. This is already a majority in the Senate and more will hopefully throw in their support when Senator JV Ejercito officially delivers his much-anticipated sponsorship speech.
Chairman JV Ejercito conducted long hours of stakeholder consultations that has produced a consolidated Senate committee version that addresses the various gaps in the cancer care continuum and integrated solutions for every single step: from prevention, detection, correct diagnosis, treatment and palliative care, pain management and survivorship or end of life.
“The vision is a patient centric support system that is caring, supportive, within a progressive and enabling environment so that Filipinos affected with cancer can live with dignity, enjoying long, productive, and meaningful lives,” said Senator JV Ejercito.
“We need to develop a system in which all people with cancer have access to high-quality and affordable cancer treatment,” said Senator Angara, adding that medical advances in cancer treatment like chemotherapy remain prohibitive and beyond the reach of the poor.
Civil society, the academe, and other stakeholders have also mobilized to support the long-overdue bill, led by the broad and multi-sectoral Cancer Coalition of the Philippines. Considering the 100,000 new cancer cases every year, multiplied by their immediate families and circles of support, the head count of stakeholders who stand to benefit from the bill can easily be in the millions.
And indeed, if the coalition’s chief advocacy is making cancer treatment more affordable, if not free, how can it incite anything but support?
“As cancer is a catastrophic disease which pushes families deeper into poverty, the financial burden can be overwhelming given that financial risk protection mechanisms are limited, and patients often need to shell out money from their own pockets to pay for treatment and other costs, such as medical supplies, food, and even transportation,” the group said.
It’s an important, emotionally invested demographic that has been struggling with a growing national health threat, but even with 60,000 deaths a year, there has only been decades of lackluster response from policy makers. Hopefully this changes with this Congress.
Thus, certifying the Cancer Control Bill as a priority legislation will surely resonate across all classes, rich and poor, throughout Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. It is the pervasive character of cancer that if the President signs the bill into law this year, millions will be grateful, all of whom are so deeply attached to this cause.
To end, let’s hear from someone who had personally experienced the harrowing, life-changing ordeal that comes with cancer diagnosis. Jojo Flores, 52 years old, has been a Stage IV tongue cancer survivor for more than nine years now. In an open letter addressed to President Duterte, he stressed the importance of the law to ordinary Filipinos like him and the legacy that it could leave this administration.
He wrote: “I write this letter to you on behalf of all Filipino cancer survivors (newly diagnosed, ongoing treatment, and post treatment), their affected family members and loved ones, and all cancer patient advocates. Our collective prayer and desire—spearheaded by the efforts of the Cancer Coalition of the Philippines—is for the speedy passage of the Cancer Control Act.
“When you sign the Cancer Control Act into law, this will become a landmark health legislation, supported by millions of cancer stakeholders and co-authored by a great majority of legislators from both Houses of Congress. A legislation that has broken the political lines and will benefit the poorest Filipinos.
“By your simple endorsement, you will achieve what many administrations have sadly neglected.”
‘‘With your help, we can win the war against cancer. With your help tens of thousands of Filipino lives will be saved to become productive citizens of our country.”
Pass the Cancer Control Act!
