Deputy speaker wants to put up ‘heart center’ in Liloan

CEBU Rep. and Deputy Speaker Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco (fifth district) has proposed to establish a “heart center” in the Visayas to be located in his hometown of Liloan in northern Cebu.

Filed by Frasco on Aug. 22, 2022, House Bill (HB) 3879 is in response to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos’ pronouncement during his first State of the Nation Address that specialty hospitals like heart centers should not only be available in the National Capital Region, but also in other areas of the country.

Marcos emphasized that a stronger health care system and more health centers and hospitals are necessary.

Frasco cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, as compiled from the Department of Health, the Philippine Heart Association, government and private hospitals and other healthcare facilities all over the country, which indicate that ischemic heart diseases were the leading causes of death from January to October 2021 with 110,332 cases or 18.3 percent of the total deaths in the country. This was a 28 percent increase from the 86,164 deaths or 16.9 percent of the total deaths in the country during the same period in 2020.

“It is evident that there is a need to put up heart centers in the provinces in order to decentralize the services in the National Capital Region. With the increasing number of heart disease cases in the country, medical services should be made accessible and affordable to Filipinos nationwide, especially those living in the remote areas,” said Frasco.

Why in Liloan?

Frasco explained that he chose Liloan as the proposed site of the heart center as it is “a gateway to the North of Cebu and a convenient access to the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Cebu and to the cities and towns from the West and South of Cebu.” “At present, there is an increasing number of residents in the Visayas diagnosed with heart illnesses. It is thus imperative that specialized medical services should be provided for those with heart and other allied diseases in the Visayas area, especially the poor and less fortunate in life, without regard to race, creed, color or political belief,” he said.

Frasco added that the establishment and maintenance of the Heart Center of the Philippines–Visayas will give true meaning to the constitutional policy of providing an efficient and effective health care system that is responsive to the health needs and problems of the people.