Roxas to GMA: Don't politicize cheaper meds issue

President Arroyo’s tirades in her State of the Nation Address prove she used the Cheaper Medicines Law for politics and not to benefit the people, Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas said.

"Bakit hindi na lang niya pinirmahan ang executive order na nagka-kalahati ng presyo ng mgamahalagang gamot at inantay pa niya ang kanyang SONA bago ianunsiyo na pipirmahan na niya (Why didn’t she just sign the executive order that cuts by half the price of essential medicines and she waited to announce this in her SONA?)," Roxas asked during an interview on radio stations.

"Halatang pulitika lang ang dahilan (It’s obvious that politics is the reason)," he said.

Roxas said while he is heartened by the President’s tirades against him as it made his opposition to her government’s bad policies and practices stand out, his only real concern is to see that cheap medicines reach the market.

"Ang gusto ko lang ay talagang bumaba na ang presyo ng mga gamot para ma-benepisyo na ang ating mga kababayan (What I really want is for cheap medicines to benefit our people)," he said.

At the same time, Roxas said President Arroyo has no one to blame if she considers the Cheaper Medicines Law the "weaker" version of what it should be.

"Hindi pala niya gusto iyong bersyon nung batas (If that was not the version that she wanted), why did she not veto it?," asked Roxas, who is the primary author of the Universally Accessible, Quality and Cheaper Medicines law.

"Para sa isang Pangulo na napaka-poderoso, napaka-makapangyarihan, na hindi masabi na hindi ito ang gusto ko, na ito pala ang gusto, aba, napakahina naman niya (For a president who is very powerful, for her not to be able to say that this was not what she wanted and that she wanted another thing instead, for her not to be able to say this, well, it just shows that she’s a weak president)," he added.

He insisted the proposal of President Arroyo’s ally Rep. Ferjenel Biron to create a price regulatory board will corrupt the process of lowering medicine prices as has happened always under the Arroyo administration.