Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
On the enactment of bills on National Health Insurance, Senior Citizen’s Day Center, and antisexual harassment

[Delivered in Malacañang, Manila, February 14, 1995]

Onward with social
reforms

IN MY State of the Nation Address in July last year, I expressed the urgency of completing the foundations we needed for our growth through the modernization of our economy, our Government bureaucracy and our social order. I called on Congress to provide the momentum for our programs for progress through its speedy passage of some 36 specific laws which the executive branch had prioritized as urgent. I am happy to note that, after weeks of grueling sessions, Congress has passed many of the bills that form the core of our social reform agenda.

The National Health Insurance Law

The first of three bills approved into law today is the National Health Insurance Law, or R. A. 7875, which creates the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation to replace the Philippine Medical Care Commission (Medicare) and expands, in the process, the coverage of health insurance for our people.

R.A. 7875 is a landmark law—a major building block of social reform in that it transforms national health care into a more equitable and efficient system of delivering health services, especially for the poorest of our poor. Its reach will be felt not only by those who are formally employed but also by those in nonformal sectors such as farmers, fisherfolk, even sidewalk and wandering vendors.

This new law enhances the resources for health through an innovative health-care financing scheme and, most important, removes the barriers to health benefits caused by the rising costs of medical care.

Through the National Health Insurance Program, which the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation will administer, Filipinos will be provided with health-care insurance, which will enable them to avail themselves of health services in Government or private hospitals in times of need. The separate health insurance coverage of other agencies such as the Government Service Insurance System will be integrated and their funds combined into one to allow the portability of benefits for people in the Government and the private sectors.

To ease the needy of the burden of medical expenses is the ultimate goal of this law, which is also the main aim of effective social health insurance. With this law, we take a bold step toward empowering the poorer sectors of our society and upholding their basic human right to have a healthy life.

Day care for the elderly

Complementing our health care for the needy sectors is R.A. 7876, which provides for a Senior Citizens’ Center in every city and town.

This law, an improvement of an earlier law, R. A. 7432, which provided for the optimization of the contribution of our elderly to nation building, will ensure that the elderly in every town or city will be cared for in appropriate centers under the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The centers will coordinate activities for older people and give them training and work opportunities to ensure that our elderly, in the sunset of their years, will still find meaningful work and purpose in their lives.

Through these centers, we not only are able to optimize the productivity of all members of our society, but also affirm our commitment to the principle of a just and caring society.

I call on the Departments of Social Welfare and Development and of the Interior and Local Governments and all the other agencies for the elderly to prepare without delay the regulations for the expeditious implementation of this law.

Antisexual harassment

Capping our efforts toward social reform, we have R.A. 7877 to protect our workers, especially the women, from sexual harassment in the workplace.

Although intended for both male and female victims of sexual harassment, R.A. 7877 has a decided bias for women—only because women make up the great majority of those who have suffered—and suffered silently—from work-related sexual harassment.

The passage of this law confirms our view that men and women are equally important members of the Filipino society and, therefore, that no discrimination will be allowed on the basis of gender.

Now that legal recourse is available to victims of sexual harassment, we have reduced their fear of being fired, penalized or ridiculed. They no longer need to suffer the unwanted advances of their superiors and coworkers nor the stigma of being ostracized for having been victims of such crimes.

We have advanced the basic rights of our workers through this law even as we also promote peace and productivity in the workplace. Now, armed with legal weapons for their protection against the sexual advances of amorous males in the workplace, women can concentrate better on the functional tasks they just perform to improve their productivity, grow professionally and increase their incomes and contributions to the nation’s development.

That the Ninth Congress is determined to make a name for itself as the most prolific in the history of our legislature is confirmed by the quality and the quantity of its output. There will be, I am assured, more to follow.

On behalf of our countrymen and Government, I acknowledge with gratefulness the determination of our legislators to enact the bills agreed upon in our common executive-legislative agenda.

I am sure several more important bills will be approved in these last days of the current session. I am encouraged by the fact that we—the legislative and executive branches, with the help of the private sector—have done much to advance our social reform agenda and our program for sustainable growth.

It is important that the neediest sectors of our society be provided with equal access to opportunities for progress.

I especially commend the principal authors and coauthors, the sponsors and cosponsors, and the members of the bicameral committee for all their efforts to promote social reform and social equity.