PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Wednesday signed the Revised Corporation Code and the Universal Health Care Act.
In his speech after the ceremonial signing of the laws, Mr. Duterte said the Revised Corporation Code “seeks to simplify corporate governance standards and establish a more business friendly environment that will enable corporations and other juridical entities to thrive.”
The Revised Corporation Code is the amended version of the 38-year-old Batas Pambansa Bilang 68 or the Corporation Code of the Philippines, which provides the rules and regulations in the establishment and operation of stock and nonstock corporations. Its Senate version, Senate Bill No. 1280, introduces the “one-person corporation” to address problems in filling up the current requirement of at least five stockholders for a corporation.
The measure also grants perpetual corporate life as the default option for applicants.
On the Universal Health Care Act, the President said: “By automatically [enrolling] our citizens into the National Health Insurance Program and expanding PhilHealth coverage to include free medical consultations and laboratory tests, the Universal Health Care Law that I signed today will guarantee equitable access to quality and affordable health care services for all Filipinos.”
Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, who serves as vice-chairperson of the Senate committee on health and demography and a co-sponsor of the measure, said in a statement that the new law requires “all Filipinos to be guaranteed equitable access to quality and affordable health goods and services and to be protected against financial risk.”
To do this, the Senator said, the law requires that all Filipinos be automatically included in the new “National Health Insurance Program,” along with access to other population-based and individual-based health services.
Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, chairman of the same committee, is the principal author and sponsor of the measure. Its House version was authored by former congressman and Palace spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr.
The President also led the presentation of the previously-signed Redistricting Southern Leyte Act, the Social Security Act of 2018, the Philippine Sports Training Center Act, and the Amendments to the New Central Bank Act. He also announced that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas remitted to the national government partial dividends amounting to P4 billion.
Officials present during the ceremony were former President and Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the other members of the House of Representatives; Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III and the other members of the Senate; Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea; and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles and other members of the Cabinet. — Arjay L. Balinbin

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR