MANILA, Philippines -- Bangon Pilipinas standard-bearer Eduardo Villanueva vowed to work for the establishment of a tertiary hospital in every province if elected.

“The public health sector is already in the ICU (intensive care unit) and must be given a shot  to come alive. My personal vision is to establish a tertiary public hospital in every province in the country to bring the best health care to those who need it the most," Villanueva said.

A tertiary hospital is defined as a large major hospital that offers a full complement of services, including pediatrics, general medicine, and the different branches of surgery.

“Health is one of the top agenda of the Bangon Pilipinas Party. We will prioritize increasing the budget for the public health sector by following the ideal budget allocation set by the World Health Organization (WHO) to the equivalent of six percent of the country’s gross domestic product," Villanueva explained, adding it is the responsibility of the government to bring the best of health care to people.

He noted that patients in rural areas are constrained to spend so much of their already meager resources just to make the trip to Metro Manila to get good public or private health services.

“It is the government’s job to provide good health care services to its citizens, not the other way around,” Villanueva noted.

Given the government’s limited resources, Villanueva said his administration would enter into partnerships with the private sector to improve the health sector and deliver basic health care services to the most remote areas of the country.