Law Summary
Functions and Authority of the Department of Health
- The Department's mandates include promoting public health, providing health services especially in rural and poor areas, and regulating medical and public health programs.
- It is authorized to issue permits for hospitals and medical educational institutions, and prescribe health service fee standards.
- The Secretary promulgates rules and regulations for proper implementation.
- Bureau Directors, Regional Directors, and Health Officers have delegated responsibilities for policy implementation, development, and enforcement.
International Treaties, Rights, and Miscellaneous Provisions
- The Philippines recognizes valid international health treaties consistent with the Constitution.
- Legal rights accrued before the Code remain unaffected; procedural rules conform to the Code after its effectivity.
- Powers may be delegated to deputies or agents unless expressly prohibited.
- Notices must be in English or Pilipino and mailed unless otherwise specified.
- Properties condemned or seized for public health are non-compensable.
- The principle of command responsibility applies to health officers and their superiors.
Water Supply Standards and Regulation
- Drinking water standards align with National Drinking Water Standards for bacteriological and chemical quality.
- Approval from the Secretary is required for construction and operation of water sources and systems.
- Water testing includes initial, periodic bacteriological and chemical examinations, and radioactive contamination tests.
- Only accredited laboratories may perform water testing.
- Protective measures include restrictions on clothing washing and well construction near sources, prohibition of unsafe water system connections and booster pumps.
Food Establishment Regulations
- Food establishments must secure and prominently post sanitary permits.
- Health certificates are required for food establishment employees after medical exams and immunizations.
- Standards for food quality include sourcing from approved suppliers and proper cooking and storage temperatures.
- Structural standards cover floors, walls, ceilings, lighting, ventilation, overcrowding, changerooms, and wash-hand basins.
- Food handling requires hygienic practices and restrictions on non-staff contact.
- Measures against vermin include physical barriers and compulsory abatement programs.
- Adequate toilet and refuse disposal facilities must be provided.
- Equipment and utensils must be cleanable, non-toxic, and subject to bactericidal treatment.
- Food storage rules differentiate perishable and non-perishable foods with temperature controls.
- Inspection and enforcement procedures involve periodic evaluation, notice of non-compliance, sanctions, permit revocation, and appeals.
- Special provisions regulate "Sari-sari" stores, bakeries, dairies, ice plants, ambulant vendors, oyster beds, and fish markets.
Markets and Abattoirs
- Construction standards emphasize hygiene, water supply, drainage, durability, and vermin control.
- Local health authorities inspect, supervise, and enforce sanitation in markets and abattoirs.
- Slaughtering must ensure animal health and proper waste disposal.
- Staffing must be sufficient and under health authority supervision.
Public Laundry Operations
- Commercial public laundries require sanitary permits.
- Structural and sanitary requirements cover site selection, ventilation, chemical storage, employee facilities and hygiene.
- Special disinfection protocols for hospital and radioactive materials are mandated.
School Sanitation and Health Services
- School physical environment must ensure safe location, adequate grounds, durable facilities, proper ventilation, lighting, and sanitation.
- Emotional environment includes location away from negative influence and availability of recreational and rest facilities.
- Health services include periodic exams, immunizations, treatments, emergency care, and counseling.
- Special schools require standards for handling cadavers, poisonous material, and radioactive sources.
Industrial Hygiene
- Industrial establishments must secure sanitary permits and operate within appropriate zoning.
- Provision of potable water, sewage, and restroom facilities is mandatory.
- Waste collection and vermin control programs are required.
- Secretary issues guidelines on atmospheric contaminant limits, infectious disease controls, radiation, noise, and illumination standards.
- Employers must provide protective equipment, educate employees, and monitor occupational hazards.
- Employees must adhere to safety measures.
Public Swimming or Bathing Places
- Permits are compulsory for operation.
- Rules for safe sanitary practices, personnel hygiene, lifesaving facilities, hazard warnings, and water quality standards are established.
- Local health authorities conduct inspections and may recommend permit revocation.
Rest Areas, Bus Terminals, Stops, Service Stations
- Must have sanitary facilities for travelers.
- Provide adequate space, water supply, sewage and refuse disposal, comfort rooms, and seating facilities.
- Food sales must comply with food establishment standards.
Camps and Picnic Grounds
- Operation requires a sanitary permit.
- Sites must be well-drained, flood-free, and distant from nuisances.
- Facilities must include lighting, ventilation, water supply, toilets, sewage and refuse disposal, food handling standards, and vermin control.
Dancing Schools, Dance Halls, Night Clubs
- Require sanitary permits.
- Must maintain cleanliness and provide potable water and toilet facilities.
- Employment requires health certificates specific to roles such as instructors, hostesses, cooks, and waiters.
- Food and drink handling must meet established standards.
Tonsorial and Beauty Establishments
- Include barber shops, beauty parlors, hairdressing, manicuring, and figure slenderizing salons.
- Must obtain sanitary permits and maintain cleanliness.
- Employees must have health certificates.
- Sanitary practices include handwashing, clean garments, no smoking or eating while working, disinfection of tools, and precautions for customers with skin diseases.
Massage Clinics and Sauna Bath Establishments
- Require sanitary permits.
- Facilities must be properly ventilated and equipped with clean amenities.
- Masseur and attendants must be licensed or authorized and hold health certificates.
- Personnel wear clean working garments.
Hotels, Motels, Apartments, Boarding and Lodging Houses, Tenements, Condominiums
- Operation requires sanitary permits.
- Must provide adequate water, toilet and bath facilities, and maintain cleanliness.
- Perform vermin control and restrict pets to proper enclosures.
- Food service and linen must meet health standards.
- Condominium site selection criteria include accessibility, amenities, and safety.
Port, Airport, Vessel and Aircraft Sanitation
- Port and airport facilities must provide potable water, approved food, and health inspections.
- Organized medical and health services for infectious disease control are mandated.
- Measures against mosquito vectors and rodent control must be maintained.
- Vessel and aircraft sanitation adhere to quarantine laws and international hygiene guidelines.
Vermin Control
- Vermin defined as disease vectors including flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, rodents.
- Vermin abatement programs compulsory for premises; failure to maintain results in local health agencies intervening at owner expense.
- Public vermin control is local government responsibility.
Sewage Collection, Disposal, Excreta and Drainage
- Public sewerage systems governed by stringent standards and require Secretary approval for construction and operation.
- Septic tanks must meet minimum specifications and not be near water sources.
- Effluent treated before discharge to prevent pollution.
- Septic tank capacity is calculated on estimated flow and occupancy.
- Sanitary privies must be fly-proof, with specific structural standards.
- Municipalities responsible for sanitary drainage systems and connections.
- Radioactive excreta handled with separate facilities and strict flushing protocols.
Refuse Disposal
- Cities and municipalities must ensure efficient refuse collection, transport, and disposal.
- Occupants must provide adequate containers protected from vermin.
- Disposal by incineration, burying, landfill, or approved methods; no improper littering.
- Streets and parks must be maintained clean by property owners and local governments.
Nuisances and Offensive Trades
- Nuisances defined broadly as anything injurious to health or comfort; offensive trades listed (e.g., soap boiling, manure storing, lime burning).
- Owners must secure permits, remove wastes daily, prevent escape of industrial impurities, and maintain cleanliness.
Pollution of the Environment
- Enforcement applies Republic Act No. 3931, related National Water and Air Pollution rules, Radiation Health standards.
- Secretary empowered to regulate pesticides, chemical food contamination, non-ionizing radiation, noise, biological pollutants, toxic agricultural practices, and other pollutions not covered elsewhere.
Disposal of Dead Persons
- Burial grounds regulated for location and distance from dwellings and water sources.
- Burial requires death certificates; rules for depth and handling of remains detailed.
- Disinterment allowed after specified periods with conditions.
- Funeral and embalming establishments require permits and must adhere to structural and sanitary standards.
- Licensing and registration of undertakers and embalmers enforced.
- Autopsies authorized under defined circumstances.
- Organ donation regulated by written authorization and kin consent.
- Unclaimed remains may be used for medical research.
- Radioactive cadavers require special handling and labeling.
- Responsibilities of Regional Directors, local health authorities, and governments clarified.
- Penal provisions apply for violations including imprisonment and fines.
Final Provisions
- Violations of the Code's rules constitute misdemeanors punishable by imprisonment or fi