Press Release - Sen. Pia Cayetano's sponsorship speech of Senate Resolution No. 806

Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. President, I rise today to sponsor Senate Resolution No. 806, Recognizing and Commending Dr. Carmencita Padilla for Receiving the Order of National Scientist Award.

On 31 August last year, Dr. Carmencita Padilla received the Order of National Scientist Award (Orden ng Gawad ng Pambansang Alagad ng Agham), the highest national recognition given to a man or woman of science in the Philippines.

Dr. Padilla demonstrated academic excellence. She graduated cum laude, BS Pre Medicine at the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1976. She was an outstanding graduate at the UP Manila when she took her medical degree in 1981. She is a pediatrician, with a sub-specialty in clinical genetics.

Dr. Padilla has made significant contributions in public health through medical research, particularly in the development of genetic technology, which played a crucial role in the passage of key health measures.

I have worked with her closely on various landmark health legislation. But I'd like to add a personal note, Mr. President. I met Dr. Carmencita Padilla before I became a senator, when my father was a senator. Because, and I hope I remember this correctly, I had consulted with her because I was pregnant and diagnosed... My unborn child, I was told, had a genetic condition known as Trisomy 13. So I believe I met her when I was still pregnant. She told me that when I give birth, we can talk further about the condition of my child. So eventually, I met with her. Eventually, my son eventually passed away, but we had forged a personal relationship and so soon after that, because my son was born in 2000 and he passed away in 2001, she had already started working on the Newborn Screening Act and was literally... You don't do justice to the word lobbying when I talk about a scientist, a doctor, who is trying to really educate legislators and policymakers on the importance of a measure. But in any case, that's what she was trying to do. And because we had a personal relationship, I was the one who explained to my father the importance of the Newborn Screening Bill that Dr Padilla was pushing for.

And so this actually passed in 2004 just before... Well, my