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THE
cheaper-medicine bill could have been approved about a
week ago by the House of Representatives had it not been
for the constant questioning and filibustering of
Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino Rep. Pablo Garcia of Cebu.
On
Wednesday night, Garcia and Partido ng Demokratikong
Pilipino-Laban Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. of
Makati had a heated argument during the deliberation of the bill
and accused each other of insulting each other.
Locsin,
who has been pushing for the passage of the bill,
accused Garcia of delaying the bill for the latter’s
insistence to overhaul it.
“Lahat,”
Locsin said when asked what particular sections of the
bill Garcia wanted to amend.
“Dine-delay
lang niya because we kept on asking him to submit
[his proposed changes], pero he will not, eh...the
thing is you pay attention to him, then you’ll never
have a period of amendment,” Locsin told BusinessMirror
in a telephone interview.
Locsin
fears that if members of the House will keep on “talking
to Garcia and pay attention to him,” the Filipino people
might misinterpret that the House is collaborating with
the moves to derail the measure, which its proponents
and Locsin want to deliver as a Christmas gift to the
people.
During
their debate on Wednesday, Locsin was slighted when
Garcia branded the measure a “badly crafted bill,”
prompting the former to call him “matapobre, from
Cebu.”
Both
complained to the presiding officer that they were
insulted.
Lakas
Rep. Jannete Garin of
Iloilo
shared Locsin’s view that Garcia is the only obstacle in
passing the measure.
“Ever
since, it has been Representative Garcia who has been
causing these unnecessary delays in the passing of the
cheaper-medicine bill,” said Garin during a weekly forum
in Quezon City.
“We have
even formed a seven-man committee who tried to talk him
into presenting his proposed amendments to the bill but
he declined saying he has no time to put them in
writing,” Garin added.
Garin
said Garcia has been engaging everyone in a prolonged
debate on the floor and because of the lengthy
discussions on the issues he keeps on raising, most of
the lawmakers are inclined to leave the session hall
depriving them of a quorum.
Lakas
Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. of
Manila,
who is also supporting the bill said that it’s good
thing Garcia was not elected Speaker,
“Otherwise, the Cheaper Medicine Bill would have no
chance of being approved,” Abante said.
Locsin
still hopes that the bill would be passed before the
Christmas break on December 20.
“Otherwise if it is derailed, sila ang may kasalanan,”
Locsin said. |
