j,rn:ltl' SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) (t}ffl;C (If t~g ,~~rrthu~ OF THE PHILIPPINES ) Second Regular Session ) "14 SEP 24 P3 :14 SENATE P. s. R. No. ____936 _ kIX'EI\ El.! BY, ----t Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE PROPER SENATE COMMITTEE TO CONDUCT AN INQUIRY, IN AID OF LEGISLATION, ON THE REPORTED NEED TO EDUCATE FILIPINOS ON DEADLY DISEASES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, SUCH AS MERS-COV WHEREAS, the Constitution, Article 2, Section 15 provides: "The State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them"; WHEREAS, the Constitution, Article 13, Section 11 states that, "The State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all the people at affordable cost; WHEREAS, various media, on 5 September 2014, reported" that according to Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona only a fraction of the passengers from two flights that carried a Filipina nurse from Saudi Arabia who tested positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) have been tracked down; WHEREAS, Secretary Ona reportedly said that only 25 percent of 249 passengers of the Saudi Airlines flight have been tracked down, but none from the Cebu Pacific flight that brought the 37-year-old nurse identified as "AP" to General Santos City; WHEREAS, AP reportedly arrived in the country on board Saudi Airlines Flight SV870 with another nurse, whom the DOH identified as "CB; WHEREAS, it was reported that nurse CB, as well as her eight family members, tested negative for MERS-CoV at the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City; WHEREAS, the report also said that the AP was confined at the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City for confirmatory tests; WHEREAS, Leopoldo Vega, the hospital's executive director, reportedly said that the nurse and her husband were monitored for the virus and tested negative; WHEREAS, DOH spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy allegedly said that they have the names' and contact numbers of the passengers in the Saudia flight but they have difficulty tracing the passengers of the CebuPac flight; WHEREAS, Suy reportedly said that the contact numbers of the passengers of the Cebu Pacific flight were not taken by the airline; , . • WHEREAS, it was reported that according to Lee Suy, the DOH would coordinate with airline companies to include the contact numbers in their passenger's information in the future; WHEREAS, Ona appealed to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East to undergo tests for MERS-Co V and wait for results before coming home; WHEREAS, AP was not aware of her condition because she did not wait for the results before she returned to the country; WHEREAS, Secretary Ona reportedly said that the country needs to implement preventive measures against MERS-Co V; WHEREAS, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said she instructed concerned Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) in the Middle East to strictly implement preventive measures against MERS-Co V; WHEREAS, Baldoz reportedly said that nurses and other health workers were advised to strictly follow infection control measures in their work and see a doctor if they experience symptoms; WHEREAS, the government should institutionalize intensified information campaign drives against deadly diseases in order to increase public awareness on the dangers of such diseases; WHEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED to direct the proper Senate committee to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the reported need to intensify efforts to inform the public on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus. Adopted, Ird and fmf 2 .