Creation of PITAHC and Health Care Dev Fund

State policy and objectives

The State policy is to improve the quality and delivery of health care services by developing traditional and alternative health care and integrating them into the national health care delivery system (Section 2).
The State policy includes seeking a legally workable basis for indigenous societies to own their knowledge of traditional medicine, and to require permitted users to acknowledge its source and to demand a share of financial returns from authorized commercial use (Section 2).
The Act’s objectives are to:
- Encourage scientific research and develop traditional and alternative health care systems with direct impact on public health care (Section 3).
- Promote and advocate modalities proven safe, effective, cost effective, and consistent with government standards on medical practice (Section 3).
- Develop and coordinate skills training courses for various modalities (Section 3).
- Formulate standards, guidelines, and codes of ethical practice for practice and for manufacture, quality control, and marketing of health care materials and natural/organic products for approval by appropriate agencies (Section 3).
- Formulate policies protecting indigenous and natural health resources and technology from unwarranted exploitation for approval by appropriate agencies (Section 3).
- Strengthen the role of the traditional and alternative health care delivery system (Section 3).
- Promote traditional and alternative health care in international and national conventions, seminars, and meetings in coordination with Department of Tourism, Duty Free Philippines, Incorporated, Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation, other tourism-related agencies, nongovernment organizations, and local government units (Section 3).

Core definitions in the Act

“Traditional and alternative health care” means the sum total of knowledge, skills, and practices on health care, other than those embodied in biomedicine, used in prevention, diagnosis, and elimination of physical or mental disorder (Section 4).
“Traditional medicine” means knowledge, skills, and practice on health care recognized by the people for maintaining and improving health toward wholeness of being, community and society interrelations, grounded in culture, history, heritage, and consciousness, and not necessarily explicable in modern scientific philosophical frameworks (Section 4).
“Biomedicine” (also called “allopathy,” “western medicine,” “regular medicine,” “conventional medicine,” “mainstream medicine,” “orthodox medicine,” or “cosmopolitan medicine”) means the discipline of medical care advocating therapy with remedies that produce effects differing from those of the diseases treated (Section 4).
“Alternative health care modalities” means non-allopathic (and sometimes non-indigenous or imported) healing methods that are not necessarily practiced for centuries or handed down across generations; examples include reflexology, acupuncture, massage, acupressure, chiropractics, nutritional therapy, and similar methods (Section 4).
“Herbal medicines” means finished, labeled medicinal products containing aerial or underground parts of plants or other materials as active ingredients, whether in crude state or as plant preparations, and may contain excipients; products combining plant material with chemically-defined active substances (including isolated constituents) are not herbal medicines (Section 4).
“Natural product” refers to foods growing spontaneously in nature, whether or not tended by man, and foods prepared from specified natural food sources without the use or addition of additives, preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, or manufactured chemicals after harvest or slaughter (Section 4).
“Manufacture” includes operations in production including preparation, propagation, processing, formulating, filling, packing, repacking, altering, ornamenting, finishing, or changing the container, wrapper, or labeling for distribution to the final deliverer or seller (Section 4).
“Traditional healers” are relatively old, highly respected people with profound knowledge of traditional remedies (Section 4).
“Intellectual property rights” is defined as the legal basis by which indigenous communities exercise rights to access, protect, control cultural knowledge and product, including traditional medicines, and includes the right to receive compensation (Section 4).

Creation and attachment of PITAHC

A body corporate is established as the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care, referred to as the Institute (Section 5).
The Institute is attached to the Department of Health (Section 5).
The principal office is in Metro Manila, with authority to establish other branches or offices elsewhere as necessary to accomplish the Act’s purposes (Section 5).

Institute powers and Board governance

The Institute is empowered and tasked to plan and carry out research and development for traditional and alternative health care and its integration (Section 6).
The Institute is empowered to verify, package, and transfer economically viable technologies, emphasizing social engineering aspects for group endeavor (Section 6).
The Institute is empowered to provide a data base and policy formulation that stimulates and sustains production, marketing, and consumption of products (Section 6).
The Institute is empowered to organize continuing training programs for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, other professional health workers, students, and also scientists, research managers, and extension workers (Section 6).
The Institute is empowered to formulate policies creating public awareness through educational activities and events focusing on promotion of healthy living to prevent diseases and uplift the health care industry (Section 6).
The Institute is empowered to acquire charters, franchises, licenses, rights, privileges, assistance, financial or otherwise, and concessions from government and other entities necessary for attainment of its purposes and objectives (Section 6).
The Institute may receive and acquire grants, donations, and contributions of real and personal properties, including funds and valuable effects or things, and administer them in accordance with their terms and the Act’s purposes (Section 6).
The Institute functions as a coordinating center of a national network of traditional and alternative health care stations in different regions (Section 6).
The Institute may formulate a code of ethics and standards for practice for approval and adoption by appropriate professional and government agencies (Section 6).
The Institute may formulate standards and guidelines for manufacture, marketing, and quality control of materials and products for approval and adoption by the Bureau of Food and Drugs (Section 6).
The Institute may coordinate with other institutions and agencies involved in research on herbal medicines (Section 6).
The Institute has corporate capacities including adopting and using a corporate seal, suing and being sued, and succession by its corporate name (Section 6).
The Institute may adopt bylaws, promulgate rules and regulations to implement the Act, and amend or repeal them (Section 6).
The Institute may enter into contracts and agreements of any kind (Section 6).
The Institute may borrow or obtain funds or credit arrangements to support research programs and finance capital and operating expenses, subject to laws on public debts and expenditures (Section 6).
The Institute may invest in, acquire, own, hold, use, mortgage, pledge, encumber, sell, assign, convey, exchange, or otherwise deal with real and/or personal properties, including securities and other evidences of indebtedness, whether domestic or foreign and government or private (Section 6).
The Institute may exercise corporate powers under the General Corporation Law to the extent not violating the Act (Section 6).
The Institute may exercise other necessary or incidental powers and perform other necessary or incidental acts to attain its purposes (Section 6).

Board composition, terms, meetings, quorum, compensation

The Institute’s corporate powers and its business, activities, and properties are controlled by a Board of Trustees (Board) (Section 7).
The Board is chaired ex officio by the Secretary of Health (Section 7).
Permanent representatives include: Department of Science and Technology; Department of Environment and Natural Resources; Department of Agriculture; Department of Education, Culture and Sports; and Commission on Higher Education (Section 7).
Sector/industry representatives include:
- One (1) physician engaged in practice of traditional and alternative health care (Section 7).
- One (1) member from a duly recognized academe/research institution engaged in traditional and alternative health care research (Section 7).
- One (1) traditional and alternative health care practitioner who is not a physician (Section 7).
- One (1) biomedical/allopathic/western medical practitioner, preferably from the Philippine Medical Association (Section 7).
- One (1) member from the natural food industry and/or organic food industry (Section 7).
- One (1) member from the environmental sector organization (Section 7).
The six (6) appointive sector/industry members are appointed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Secretary of Health (Section 7).
Appointive members have staggered terms: two (2) members serve three (3) years, the second two (2) serve two (2) years each, and the third two (2) serve one (1) year each (Section 7).
A member appointed to a vacancy serves only the unexpired term of the member being replaced (Section 7).
The Board meets regularly at least once a month or as often as exigencies demand (Section 7).
At least six (6) members constitute quorum, and a majority vote of members present (with quorum) is required for adoption of Board resolutions, decisions, or acts (Section 7).
Board members receive a per diem for every meeting actually attended, subject to budgetary laws, rules, and regulations on compensation, honoraria, and allowances (Section 7).

Board powers and Director General authority

The Board defines and approves the Institute’s programs, plans, policies, procedures, and guidelines, and controls the Institute’s management and administration (Section 8).
The Board approves the Institute’s organizational structure, staffing pattern, operating and capital expenditure, and financial budgets prepared under the Institute’s corporate plan (Section 8).
The Board approves salary ranges, benefits, privileges, bonuses, and terms for Institute officers and employees upon recommendation of the Director General, consistent with salary standardization and other laws (Section 8).
The Board appoints, transfers, promotes, suspends, removes, or disciplines subordinate officers/employees upon recommendation of the Director General (Section 8).
The Board creates committees and appoints their members as necessary for management or attainment of purposes (Section 8).
The Board determines the Institute’s research priorities consistent with its purposes and objectives and in coordination with other government agencies (Section 8).
The Board exercises other powers and functions necessary or proper for purposes and objectives, or those delegated by the Secretary of Health (Section 8).
The Institute is headed by a Director General, appointed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Secretary of Health, with a term of six (6) years (Section 9).
The Director General is assisted by Deputy Director General(s) and program managers/coordinators determined by the Board (Section 9).
The Director General has overall supervision and direction over the implementation of all Institute research and development programs and supervises the Institute’s management, operations, and administration (Section 10).
The Director General executes contracts, including deeds that incur obligations, acquires and disposes of assets, and delivers documents on behalf of the Institute within delegated limits by the Board (Section 10).
The Director General implements and enforces Board policies, decisions, orders, rules, and regulations (Section 10).
The Director General submits an annual report of the Institute to the Board (Section 10).
The Director General submits an annual budget and supplemental budgets for Board consideration and approval (Section 10).
The Director General performs other powers and duties authorized or assigned by the Board (Section 10).
The Institute may obtain scholars, scientists, and technical personnel from any unit of the Department of Health and other Philippine government agencies for research activities, with honoraria fixed and authorized by the Board under usual government rules (Section 11).
The Institute assists, cooperates, and coordinates with government agencies including the Bureau of Food and Drugs and the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology for implementation (Section 11).

Advocacy, research program, and product standards

The Institute must promulgate a nationwide campaign to boost support for realizing the Act’s objectives (Section 12).
The Institute encourages nongovernment organizations to participate in traditional and alternative health care and health-related projects (Section 12).
The Institute must formulate and implement a research program on indigenous Philippine traditional health care practices performed by “traditional healers” using scientific research methodologies (Section 12).
In collaboration with the Bureau of Food and Drugs, the Institute formulates standards and guidelines for manufacture, quality control, and marketing of traditional and alternative health care materials and products (Section 13).

Tax incentives and development fund allocation

Manufacturers of traditional and alternative health care products, including herbal medicinal plants, receive exemptions, deductions, and other tax incentives provided for under the Omnibus Investment Code, as amended (Section 14).
The Act creates a Traditional and Alternative Health Care Development Fund to implement the Act’s provisions, used exclusively for programs and projects of the Institute (Section 15).
The Fund starts with PHP 50,000,000 for the first year, PHP 75,000,000 for the second year, and PHP 100,000,000 for the third year from the earnings of Duty Free Philippines (Section 15).
The Act limits administrative costs: not more than fifteen percent (15%) of the Fund may be used for administrative costs of the Institute (Section 15).
After the third year, the amount necessary to continue implementation is included in the annual General Appropriations Act (Section 15).

Implementation rules and initial appointments

Within thirty (30) days from the Act’s effectivity, the President appoints the Board members, as well as the Director General and Deputy Director General(s) (Section 16).
Upon establishment of the Institute, functions, personnel, and assets of the Traditional Medicine Unit and all pharmaceutical and herbal processing plants of the Department of Health are transferred to the Institute without need of conveyance, transfer, or assignment (Section 17).
For the year the Act was approved, the unexpended portion of the budget of the merged offices/agencies/units is used for establishing the Institute and initiating operations, including formulation of rules and regulations necessary to implement the Act (Section 17).
Incumbent officials and employees continue exercising their respective functions, duties, and responsibilities with corresponding benefits and privileges (Section 17).
Employees of the affected offices/agencies/units are absorbed by the Institute to the greatest extent possible and in accordance with existing laws (Section 17).
The Institute must submit to Congress an annual accomplishment report including the status of its priority researches and operation, and Congress may inquire into the Institute’s programs in its oversight (Section 18).
Within thirty (30) days from completion of Board appointments, the Board convenes and, in collaboration with the Department of Health—Traditional Medicine Unit, formulates the rules and regulations necessary to implement the Act (Section 19).
The rules and regulations must be issued within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of the Board’s initial meeting and take effect upon publication in a newspaper of general circulation (Section 19).

Repeal, separability, and final operative effects

All laws, decrees, executive orders, and other laws, including their implementing rules and regulations, inconsistent with the Act are amended, repealed, or modified accordingly (Section 20).
If any provision is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining provisions continue in full force and effect (Section 21).