Senate passes anti-hospital detention bill

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading the Extended Anti-Hospital Detention Bill.

Voting 18-0, with one abstention, the upper chamber approved Senate Bill No. 1511, which seeks to prohibit medical facilities from detaining patients and human remains because of unpaid hospital bills.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson was the only senator who abstained.

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“I would just like to change my vote to abstain with the disclosure that I am a founding member of a local hospital in Cavite,” Lacson said during Monday’s session.

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Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri then clarified that Lacson’s abstention was “so that there will be no conflict of interest.”

The bill seeks to prohibit medical facilities from detaining patients and human remains because of unpaid hospital bills.

READ: Hontiveros, Pia Cayetano clash over anti-hospital detention bill changes

The measure, sponsored by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, was co-authored by Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Erwin Tulfo, Joel Villanueva, Robin Padilla, Raffy Tulfo, Kiko Pangilinan, Pia Cayetano, Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente Sotto, and Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian.

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Hontiveros clarified in a manifestation that “this bill does not cancel a patient’s unpaid obligation.”

“What we are saying is: collect what is owed in accordance with the law. But do not keep a patient confined in the hospital simply because they cannot pay immediately,” she added.

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Explaining their yes votes, Go, Raffy and Erwin Tulfo, Villanueva, and Mark Villar likewise expressed their full support for the bill.

Villar, Gatchalian, and Villanueva noted that the “palit-ulo” (substitute or replacement) scheme in hospitals has become rampant, highlighting the need to pass the measure.

“Our fellow Filipinos should not be subjected to this inhumane and humiliating practice,” Villar said.

READ: Hontiveros wants stiffer penalties for hospitals detaining patients

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Meanwhile, Raffy Tulfo reiterated that “hospitals have the right to collect, of course, but there is a proper way to do it. The patient is not a collateral, and their freedom and livelihood should not be turned into a collection mechanism.” /mcm