Palace vows lower prices of certain medicine

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang assured the public yesterday that prices of certain medicines, including those taken by the elderly, will go down by half in the next 10 days even as officials turned the tables against Sen. Mar Roxas, who they said was actually the one opposing the reduction of the prices of drugs.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the reduction of the prices of vital medicines is part of the administration’s implementation of the Cheaper Medicines Law that President Arroyo certified as urgent when the law was still hotly debated in Congress.

He lashed out at Roxas for being “ mentally dishonest” and “ignorant of the law” when the latter insisted on summoning the president to today’s hearing at the Senate on the Cheaper Medicines Law.

“It was very irresponsible of Sen. Mar Roxas to issue a summon for President Arroyo for Monday’s inquiry considering the law prohibits the invitation of the head of a co-equal branch of government,” Remonde said.

“Either Sen. Roxas is ignorant of the law or mentally dishonest about it,” he said.

He also cited statements from other opposition officials and lawmakers revealing that Roxas was among those who opposed the passage of the Cheaper Medicines Law.

He said Roxas was “making it appear that he is a champion of cheaper medicines but it’s turning out now…that’s he’s opposing reduction of the prices of medicines.”

“He’s doing cartwheels in an effort to become president of the Philippines,” Remonde said.

Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron, a physician-lawmaker who is one of the main authors of the cheaper medicines bill in the House, said Roxas is actually solely to blame for the high cost of medicines, because it was he who wanted a deregulated industry.

Biron said it was Roxas who lobbied for the exclusion of a provision in the law that calls for an automatic price regulation, or the creation of a body that will set a ceiling or cap for medicines.

“Roxas rejected the ‘heart and soul’ of the House bill, that provided ‘mandatory price regulation.’

If only Roxas didn’t remove the provision, it could have compelled the big pharmaceutical companies to comply with price regulation.”

Former Iloilo Rep. and now Vice Governor Rolex Suplico, the sole author of the measure during 11th and 12th Congresses, also said it was Roxas who opposed the creation of the Drug Price Regulatory Board.

“I was sole author of the cheaper medicines bill in the 11th Congress. I re-filed it in the 12th Congress. Biron joined me in the 13th Congress. Kami ay para sa creation ng Drug Price Regulatory Board. Mar was against it. His was parallel importation. Kaya in-abolish ni Mar ang Board at ibinigay ang kapangyarihan sa Presidente,” Suplico said.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, for his part, said he does not know “where the conflict is coming from.”

“We have the same objective that is to bring down the prices of medicines, so I don’t see any reason why he should create conflict,” Duque told The STAR.

He said the draft executive order mandating the reduction of prices of certain drugs is already with the Palace legal department for scrutiny. But Mrs. Arroyo will only sign it as a “last resort” if the drug companies refuse to lower their prices voluntarily under the law.

He said the Department of Health has already released its implementing rules and regulations for the law last November but the drug firms have yet to comply.

“What’s this? They’re ignoring the law and hurting the public, especially the poor?,” Duque said referring to the drug firms.

Duque said the draft order includes anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetes, anti-asthma, and anti-cancer drugs as six out of 10 deaths in the Philippines are caused by non-communicable diseases.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman for Economic Affairs Prof. Gary Olivar said the President’s decision to give time for the drug firms to comply with the law showed the administration’s policy of not interfering as much as possible with pricing.

Roxas to unmask conspiracy among pharmaceutical firms

Meanwhile, Roxas vowed to unmask the ‘conspiracy’ among giant pharmaceutical companies and the government, as he pressed President Arroyo to sign the executive order imposing Maximum Retail Prices (MRP) for 22 essential medicines.

Roxas, co-chairperson of the Quality Affordable Medicines Oversight committee, has invited President Arroyo, other Palace officials and members of the Cabinet for the hearing today at the Senate.

Representatives of multinational pharmaceutical companies were also invited to attend the hearing to shed light on their “secret meeting” last July 8 held at Malacañang.

Roxas noted the DOH has transmitted to the Office of the President the executive order that would bring down the prices of 22 essential drugs by half as early as June 16. President Arroyo has yet to sign the executive order.

The oversight panel would inquire, among others, into details of the July 8 meeting, status of the EO and updates on the implementation of the law, the emergence of marketing discount schemes of drug companies and the availability and affordability of medicines and diagnostic kits for A(H1N1) influenza.

Roxas said he would get into the bottom of what seems to be a “conspiracy” to circumvent the application of the one-year old law.

In particular, he would like to find out if the delay in the EO’s signature is the direct result of the July 8 meeting. No less than Trade Secretary Peter Favila had confirmed the meeting and had admitted the MRP was the central agenda of the discussions.

Some of these drugs whose prices will be halved are the anti-hypertensive Norvasc (to P22.50 from the present P44.50), anti-diabetic Diamicron (to P7.35 from P14.75), antibiotic Augmentin suspension 60 ml (to P179.50 from P359), among others.

Aside from President Arroyo, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Health Secretary Duque, DTI Secretary Peter Favila, Budget Secretary Ronaldo Andaya, Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Joaquin Lagonera and officials of pharmaceutical firms were invited to attend Monday’s oversight committee hearing. –-Paolo Romero with Christina Mendez, Delon Porcalla, Philippine Star