HOUSE Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima has filed a bill that seeks to institutionalize the “Right to Care” card system, which would allow patients to choose who will make medical decisions on their behalf when they are unable to do so. In a statement on Saturday, de Lima’s House Bill 7068, or the Right to Care Act, aims to guarantee equal protection of the laws for Filipinos, ensure access to quality and compassionate health services, address health disparities rooted in social stigma and discrimination, and foster inclusivity for individuals of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics, as well as solo parents, people in nonmarital relationships and other sectors. “The current state of Philippine law effectively alienates many adult Filipinos, such as solo parents, people in nonmarital relationships, people from nontraditional households and people in same-sex relationships, who often face discrimination and unfair treatment in health care settings and are denied access to information and decision-making processes involving the health care of their loved ones, despite shared lives and mutual caregiving responsibilities,” de Lima said. She added that the measure would seek to allow Philippine law to adapt and respond to the changing times and the nontraditional contexts and relationships of Filipinos today. Under the bill, the State is mandated to recognize a person’s chosen “health care agent” — by submitting a Health Care Proxy — as a legally authorized representative, ensuring that their medical preferences and care are respected during times of incapacity. The proxy shall be included in the system of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., with the proxy’s information reflected on the PhilHealth ID. The Department of Health, at the same time, shall establish and maintain a secure, centralized Right to Care Registry System containing all registered Health Care Proxies that shall be accessible to authorized health facilities nationwide for real-time verification. The measure would also give Filipinos an option to apply for a digital or physical Right to Care card to correspond to the Health Care Proxies in the system and includes an immunity provision to ensure that health care practitioners are neither held liable nor threatened in their good faith practice of honoring Health Care Proxies and the decisions of health care agents. De Lima said that the measure would give patients the right to choose their loved ones as their health care agents. “As loved ones, they are not just the individuals who know our thoughts and desires, nor just the ones who feel our love; they are our source of strength and resilience, and it is to them that we entrust our lives and health,” de Lima added. Her bill adopted several provisions from similar measures filed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, Akbayan Representatives Percival Cendaña, Chel Diokno and Dadah Kiram Ismula, and Representatives Arlene Bag-ao and Javier Miguel Benitez in the 20th Congress, as well as Quezon City’s “Right to Care” Ordinance.