{"id":273406,"date":"2020-10-29T07:03:21","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T11:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=273406"},"modified":"2020-10-29T07:03:21","modified_gmt":"2020-10-29T11:03:21","slug":"eo-for-price-cap-on-covid-19-tests-awaits-prrds-signature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/10\/29\/eo-for-price-cap-on-covid-19-tests-awaits-prrds-signature\/","title":{"rendered":"EO for price cap on Covid-19 tests awaits PRRD’s signature"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: A Philippine Coast Guard personnel gets specimen samples from one of the 400 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) during a swab test shortly upon the OFWs’ arrival via Qatar Airways flight QR3150 on Monday (Aug. 17, 2020). (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The proposed executive order that will impose a price cap for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) swab tests is awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte may sign the order after it is reviewed by the Office of the Executive Secretary and Department of Health (DOH).<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot preempt the decision of the President. But what I can assure you is,\u00a0natapos na po iyong responsibilidad ng<\/em>\u00a0[technical working group]\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a0DOH,\u00a0tapos na rin po ang<\/em>\u00a0paperwork sa Office of the Executive Secretary,\u00a0at ngayon po ay nag-aantay na lang ng pirma ng ating Presidente<\/em>\u00a0(the TWG of the DOH has finished its responsibilities, the Office of the Executive Secretary has also finished its paperwork and now it is awaiting the President\u2019s signature),\u201d he said in a press briefing in Bohol.<\/p>\n

Roque expressed optimism that the President will sign the EO that regulates the prices of Covid-19 tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom all indications,\u00a0mukha naman pong magkakaroon ng<\/em>\u00a0price cap (it looks like there will be a price cap),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Roque said some private laboratories charge expensive fees for Covid-19 tests when it would only cost about PHP1,500 to PHP2,000 if done by private-led Project Ark.<\/p>\n

He said making Covid-19 test \u201cmore affordable\u201d would improve the government\u2019s efforts to test, trace, treat more Filipinos.<\/p>\n

\u201cSa ganoong paraan ay mas marami pong mati<\/em>-testing\u00a0dahil<\/em>\u00a0importante\u00a0po iyan sa ating istratehiya dahil kung walang<\/em>\u00a0testing,\u00a0hindi natin alam kung sino ang ia-<\/em>isolate\u00a0at kung sino ang gagamutin<\/em>\u00a0(This way, more people will be tested because it is important for our strategy because if there\u2019s no testing, we won\u2019t know who to isolate and treat),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Last month, the DOH submitted to the Office of the President a recommendation for the issuance of an EO that imposes a ceiling on the prices of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR test).<\/p>\n

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat also appealed for a price cap on the RT-PCR and antigen tests to promote domestic tourism, which in turn can generate employment and stimulate economic recovery.<\/p>\n

To date, hospitals and health facilities that provide low-priced RT-PCR tests ranging from PHP1,750 to PHP2,000 are:<\/p>\n

Philippine Children Medical Center (2 PCR machines, 2 extractor machines);
\nJose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital (1 PCR machine, 2 extractor machines);
\nJose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital (1 PCR machine, 2 extractor machines);
\nPerpetual Help Medical Center \u2013 Las Pi\u00f1as (2 PCR machines, 2 extractor machines);
\nNational Kidney and Transplant Institute (1 extractor machine);
\nLung Center of the Philippines (2 extractor machines);
\nWestern Visayas Medical Center \u2013 Iloilo (1 PCR machine, 1 extractor machine);
\nVicente Sotto Memorial medical City \u2013 Cebu (1 extractor machine);
\nUniversity of Cebu Medical Center \u2013 Cebu (1 extractor machine);
\nEastern Visayas Regional Medical Center \u2013 Tacloban, Leyte (1 extractor machine);
\nBaguio General Hospital (1 PCR machine);
\nZamboanga City Medical Center (1 PCR machine);
\nPaul\u2019s Hospital \u2013 Tacloban, Leyte (1 extractor machine);
\nTeresita Jalandoni Provincial General Hospital \u2013 Negros Occidental (1 PCR machine); and
\nCebu Molecular Laboratory (1 PCR machine).<\/p>\n

Currently, the prices of RT-PCR testing vary in each facility.<\/p>\n

Roque, meanwhile, warned Filipinos against purchasing supposed Covid-19 vaccines that are not registered under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Philippines.<\/p>\n

\u201cBawal po iyan. Mayroon pong ipinapataw na parusa sa kahit sinong magbebenta ng gamot o bakuna na hindi po aprubado ng<\/em>\u00a0FDA.\u00a0Mayroon pong kulong iyan, itigil ninyo po iyan<\/em>\u00a0(That\u2019s illegal. There will be penalties imposed on whoever would sell medicine or vaccines not approved by the FDA),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 The proposed executive order that will impose a price cap for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) swab tests is awaiting President …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":265931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-273406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273406"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273408,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273406\/revisions\/273408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}