Office of the President News Release
released October 7, 2007

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued last night several directives intended to ensure that the people, especially the poor, enjoy easy access to cheap quality medicines.

In a statement upon her arrival from a highly successful five-day visit to China and India, the President said expanding the coverage of the government’s half-priced medicines project is in anticipation of the passage by Congress of the Affordable Medicine Bill and the active participation of the private sector and the local government units (LGUs) in the pharmaceutical trade with India.

“Our massive spending on health care includes importing pharmaceuticals from India as part of our program to cut in half the price of medicines commonly bought by the poor, she said.

She explained that although the main importer of medicines from India is the government-owed Philippine International Trading Corporation, PITC need not be the exclusive agent.

For this reason, she had invited private drugstore owners, traders and LGUs interested in linking up with India’s pharmaceutical companies to join her entourage, the President said.

The Chief Executive also voiced support for the proposal of Congressman Antonio Alvarez, chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry, to make Botika ng Barangays (BnBs) the country’s fastest growing drugstore network.

Alvarez is seeking an increase of the allocation for the BnBs branch expansion program from this year’s P98 million to P150 million in 2008.

“That augmentation would increase the number of Botika outlets to be established next year to 6,000 from the planned 3,913,” the President said.

If this target is met, there will be 13,514 BnB branches by the end of 2008, she said.

“The common man’s access to quality affordable medicine can only be made possible if BnBs are spread throughout the land,” she added.

She stressed that medicines for common illnesses must not only be affordable but also accessible.

“And there is no better way to guarantee the latter than by letting the people themselves own and run their own pharmacies,” she said.

The President pointed out that BnB is just one in the constellation of government-owned dispensaries as there are also privately-owned but state-supplied Botika ng Bayans. There are now 1,481 of these outlets nationwide, she added.

There are also drugstores run by cooperatives in military and police commissaries.

To further accelerate the roll-out and widen the reach of the cheap quality medicines, the President issued the following directives:

1. To the extent allowed by law, the Procurement Service of the DBM shall sell PITC Pharma products in its depots and commissaries. It shall serve as a drug central that will serve as a distribution point of cheap medicines. Henceforth, its inventory shall include pharmaceuticals.

2. A variant of the BnB shall be set up in state universities and colleges (SUCs). To be called Botika ng Pamantasan (BnP), this will allow students to buy medicines not only for themselves but also for family members.

By locating these BnPs in tertiary educational institutions, students will also be educated on generic medicines, information which they can re-echo to their clan and community. By creating an army of generic drug converts out of the MTV generation, they will be empowered, and indirectly their families, with rights they can exercise on matters that affect the health of their loved ones.

Moreover, the President said the BnPs can serve as laboratories for business courses.

The BNPs can “provide employment to students who may wish to work there. BnP viability is secure as it has the financial backing of its host college, for the latter has no business offering a Commerce course if it cannot run a small enterprise,” she said.

“In these stores, probably our academics can practice what they preach. An ordinary SUC has a population bigger than an average barangay so it has a customer base for a drugstore,” she pointed out.

released 10/7/2007