President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the proposed creation of the Virology Center and Disease Control Center in the Philippines and the Disease Control Center can consolidate all disparate research and be more coordinated '' as opposed to what we had to work during the pandemic.''

Marcos said this during the celebration of the 15th Philippine National Health Research System week in Pampanga on Thursday.

In his speech, Marcos noted that he has ''presented to the Congress, both Houses of Congress, the proposed creation of the Virology Center of the Philippines" and the "creation of our own Disease Control Center" in the country.

"So that we can consolidate in a better way all of the disparate research, all the different sources of knowledge, all the different sources of research and new data. We can put it together and be more coordinated as opposed to what we had to work with during the pandemic," he said.

Marcos said this will make sure '' we are ready for the unfortunate warnings that we are always getting that this is not going to be the last pandemic, at least not in our lifetimes."

Marcos said the Office of the President has been in consultation with the House of Representatives and the Senate for the creation of these agencies.

"So that we can bring them to bear in what we are up to now continuing to have to fight," he said.

"We will continue to work so that our people are safer, so that our citizens have better access to healthcare and so that the quality of our healthcare will improve," he added.

Marcos said the government must remain open to new ideas in confronting the health crisis in the country.

"The health crisis we have confronted has exposed how vulnerable we are as a people and this pushed us to devise the efficient responses and the mechanisms given what resources that we had. That is why I believe we continue to remain open to these new ideas and commit to work together," he said.

"We can resolve these issues by employing cross-sectoral responsive evidence-based systems. Now, there’s a very important idea. You are all scientists. Evidence-based system. There is no such thing as a failed experiment because every experiment you learn something," he added.

Marcos also expressed his trust that the filipino scientist "will learn from each other’s shared experiences, best practices, and discoveries in coping with the pandemic and other natural calamities and disasters."

"I am certain that you will do all of these and more. I am certain because you already have and I am certain you will continue to do it. And as we undertake the necessary measures to help our people and our society to move forward into what we now refer to as the new normal," he said.

"As your President, I hope that my presence here today gives a clear signal that this administration continues to support your endeavors so that together we can create an enabling environment for the Filipino research community that fosters collaboration and cooperation that will yield solutions, that will make lives better for our fellow men and women," he added. Robina Asido/DMS