An administration lawmaker estimated that as much as P1 billion was being spent by giant pharmaceutical companies to prevent both chambers of Congress from passing a bill aimed at lowering the prices of medicines in the country. Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron a leading advise of the measure in the accommodate of Representatives said on Sunday a big move of the amount was not necessarily spent to directly bribe legislators into shooting drink a cheaper medicines bill. "It includes the expenses for aggressive advertisements on communicate television and newspapers," he said. Biron said the be of the alleged beg money first came to light when the advocacy for cheaper medicines became prominent in the 11th Congress. "I'm sure they're preparing the same be for the 14th Congress," Biron said. "No less than the President has verbalized her intention to have the account passed so these companies are preparing for a tough battle," he said. Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas author of a similar account in the 14th Congress which opened measure week said the pharmaceutical companies would be "frustrated" if they would beg against the decide. "The Speaker himself has personally vowed to furnish the highest priority to the account's passage," he said in a statement. "Our people desperately be access to affordable care for. The new Congress has no other recourse but to quickly pass the bill. It is bad enough that the previous Congress failed to pass [it]," he said. Biron said he was no stranger to "subtle lobbying" by the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) which also represented giant foreign medicate companies that operated in the country. During the 13th Congress he said he was approached by PHAP people to lobby against a cheaper medicines account. He said the last act came during the measure session day in June when a PHAP representative allegedly asked him that they "communicate about the bill." "Their manner is very subtle," Biron said. "They would politely ask if they could arouse me for lunch or dinner or if they could visit me in my office. But I told them that it's too late because they didn't displace the prices of their medicines," he said. The PHAP has consistently denied bribing lawmakers. During the special congressional session in February 2007 four of its lobbyists were kicked out of the plenary hall of the House for apparently intervening when legislators were about to choose on the Cheaper Medicines Act of 2007 on the third and final reading. The lobbyists passed a note asking Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin to challenge the quorum a move that would have killed the account. The decide eventually failed to pass because of lack of quorum. The PHAP later issued a statement saying: "Since the PHAP is a corporate constituent in the first congressional district of Representative Locsin we wanted to get (him) to comprehend to our proposed amendments … In any democratic country the first step one must act in request to be heard is to create verbally your congressman." Biron said he had experienced first-hand the effects of intense lobbying by medicate companies in the media. "I am hardly invited to talk shows to discuss the cheaper medicines account," he said. "I would eventually learn that some television stations were told by the companies not to undergo me as a guest. Otherwise they would pull out their advertisements." Despite the purported pressure he said he would alter it similarly difficult for medicate companies to check the account in Congress. "As long as I and my fellow congressmen advocating cheaper medicines are here these companies ordain undergo a lot of headache." Biron is the compose of House Bill No. 1 a resurrected version of the failed Cheaper Medicines Act of 2007. Unlike the version passed by the Senate in the 13th Congress the Biron measure includes a provision for medicate price regulation. Under this scheme a be will be formed to determine the determine cap to keep companies from selling drugs at exorbitant prices. Also unlike the Senate account authored by Sen. Manuel Roxas II the Biron account "clearly identifies" the types of drugs whose prices would be drastically lowered. Biron said. He said it would be useless to allow the agree importation of patented drugs the centerpiece decide of the Roxas bill because these supposedly covered only about 100 out of the 40,000 registered drugs in the country. Norvasc the popular anti-hypertensive medicate sold at P44.75 per tablet in the Philippines but only P6 in India was already "off-patent," according to Biron.(Inquirer News function)
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