The public is one step closer towards more affordable medicines after pharmaceutical companies submitted the “voluntary compliance” lists.

Presidential deputy spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo Saturday assured the public that the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) are already studying the voluntary compliance lists submitted by pharmaceutical companies, adding that the results will be announced Monday.

“If [the voluntary compliance submitted lists are acceptable, fine and good, it will be easy to implement whatever is stipulated and if not, the President will be issuing an Executive Order (E.O.) that would enable the reduction of prices of 21 listed (essential) medicines,” Fajardo said.

Fajardo urged the public to trust experts at the Department of Health (DoH), adding that they know better about drug prices.

She also belittled a brewing issue that pharmaceutical firms may tamper with the prices of essential drugs.

“Let us not pre-judge drug companies,” Fajardo said, adding that the government had made its position clear to them.

Fajardo reiterated that health is among the top priorities of the Chief Executive, who pushed for the strong implementation of the Generic Medicines Law and the establishments of “Botika ng Bayan’ outlets, particularly in government agencies.

“Rest assured na nasa priority ang pagbibigay ng mababa na presyo ng gamot lalo na sa mararalitang kababayan. (It is the government’s priority to lower the prices of medicine, especially for the needy. Hopefully by Monday, we’ll give you the good news already,” she said.

President Arroyo signed into law last June the Cheaper Medicines Act to give the public better access to more affordable medicines.

Meanwhile, two opposition senators took Malacanang to task Saturday for giving pharmaceutical corporations windows of opportunity to rake in more profits by failing to issue an order implementing a Department of Health (DoH)-crafted Maximum Retail Price (MRP) containing a list of 22 essential medicines whose prices are about 50 percent less than those currently imposed at drug stores.

Sen. Francis ''Chiz'' Escudero, chairman of the Senate constitutional amendments committee, said the delay in the implementation of the maximum ceiling on retail prices of essential medicines gives drug firms a window to rake in profits which they may have lost if it had earlier been imposed by government.

“The P500-million in discounts allegedly offered by a drug firm may be peanuts compared to the profits earned by the pharmaceutical companies because of the delay in the issuance of the executive order,” he said.

Sen. Manuel ''Mar'' A. Roxas II, chairman of the Senate trade and commerce committee, asked for the list of essential medicines that pharmaceutical corporations have volunteered to sell at lower prices to skirt an unsigned Executive Order on the MRP to fully implement the Cheaper Medicines law passed a year ago.

The law was principally sponsored by Roxas but it took the DoH several months to come up with the MRP.

According to fact sheet of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the prices of drugs in the country are among the highest in Asia. A survey of ASEAN countries shows that retail prices of medicines in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are 40 to 70 percent lower than in the Philippines.