Vice President Noli de Castro yesterday expressed his support for a Senate bill seeking to give poor Filipinos more access to cheaper drugs by imposing stiffer penalties for drug companies that do not comply with the generic prescription requirements.
De Castro said that drug companies have found loopholes around the Generic Law, which aims to give Filipinos cheaper alternatives to branded drugs.
The Senate bill, introduced by Sen. Juan Flavier, seeks to impose stiffer penalties on companies not complying with the Generic Law.
It also seeks for the disclosure of multinational corporations’ selling prices in different countries, liberalization of trade outlets, and amending of policy of granting distributorship.
Moreover, the bill aims to amend the provision on patents and provides for the establishment of a congressional oversight on the implementation of the Generic Law and national drug policy.
De Castro said he is willing to put the National Anti-Poverty Commission where he is co-chairman at the forefront in lobbying for the passage of the Senate bill, stressing the need for a law that would compel drug companies to follow the Generic Law which was specifically designed to benefit the poor.
