LIVE: House Committee on Health deliberates on hospital upgrades and drugstores | August 12, 2026

The House Committee on Health approves several measures seeking to upgrade and expand regional hospitals in Negros Oriental, Misamis Oriental, Cagayan de Oro, Camarines Norte, and Zamboanga City. The hearing focuses on improving the bed capacity and medical services of government facilities to make quality healthcare accessible closer to home, reducing the need for patients to travel to Metro Manila or Cebu. Lawmakers also discussed the institutionalization of the "Botika ng Barangay" program to provide affordable medicine in far-flung communities, and a new proposal for medical stockpiling to prepare the Philippines for future public health emergencies. Chapters: 00:00 - Intro: House Committee on Health Hearing 00:15 - Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital Upgrade (HB 7608) 03:06 - DOH Feedback on Negros Oriental Regional Specialty Hospital 10:46 - Upgrading First Misamis Oriental General Hospital (HB 9097) 15:08 - DOH support for Misamis Oriental Healthcare Upgrade 19:53 - NMMC Cagayan de Oro Bed Capacity Expansion (3,000 beds) 29:58 - Discussion on NMMC CDO Infrastructure Delays 48:12 - Dr. Quingon on CDO Specialty Care Development Plans 56:09 - Camarines Norte Provincial Hospital Upgrade to Level 3 1:04:42 - Zamboanga City: New Hospital and Labuan General Upgrade 1:15:21 - Institutionalizing Botika ng Barangay/Community Drugstores 1:31:00 - DTI on Pambansang Botika Social Franchising Model 1:42:00 - Sustainability and Pharmacist Supply Issues 2:34:03 - Stockpiling Act for Public Health Emergencies (HB 4110) 2:38:38 - RITM on Anti-venom Production and Modernization Funding Subscribe to iWant to watch ANC live and on-demand: https://www.iwanttfc.com For more ANC Interviews, click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm34qRgqWBU4AT2G3LWF27_RErcz0GVd9 For more ANC Highlights videos, click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm34qRgqWBU4cKXctfaRZsLEHahqOc9dQ Subscribe to the ANC YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/user/ANCalerts Visit our website at https://news.abs-cbn.com/anc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ancalerts Twitter: https://twitter.com/ancalerts #PhilippinesHealthcare #DepartmentOfHealth #DOH #HouseOfRepresentatives #UniversalHealthcare #NegrosOriental #CagayanDeOro #ZamboangaCity #MisamisOriental #BotikaNgBarangay #ANCHighlights #ANCAlerts #ANCNews #ABSCBNNews #NewsDigital #LatestNews #PhilippineNews