?I really don't care if the entire House version is no longer in the reconciled version of the Cheaper Medicines Bill. What's more important to me is the assurance that this law will result to cheaper medicines because if not, we have just wasted a lot of man-hours trying to pass this measure,? said Nograles.

"For me, the bottom line is if we will have this Cheaper Medicines Law, it should result to cheaper medicines," Nograles said Friday in a statement.

However, Nograles said he would first consult with the lawmakers before taking a stand.

He is scheduled to meet the House contingent in the bicameral conference committee Monday to see if they might need to give way to the Senate version of the proposed act.

Iloilo Representative Jeanette Garin and Ferjenel Biron had contested the removal of the creation of a drug price regulatory board in place of a provision granting price regulatory powers to the President upon the recommendation of the Health Secretary. The lawmakers warned the move would weaken the bill.

Nograles expressed surprise when he learned that the provision creating the board in the House version of the cheaper medicines bill was deleted, adding that the lower chamber conceded only to the removal of the "generics-only provision" during the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting last Tuesday.

"We yielded on the generics-only provision just to ensure the immediate enactment of this law because we want our people to have cheaper medicines before May 1 but we had no understanding that we should also remove the provision to create a regulatory board," he said.

However, Nograles said Palawan Representative Antonio Alvarez, chairman of House contingent, assured him that the removal of the creation of a regulatory body would not weaken the bill.

Quoting Alvarez, Nograles said that without the provision for a regulatory body, the implementation of the bill would be quicker and cheaper.

Nograles said a regulatory body would take time and would require funds for the hiring of personnel and acquisition of office space and equipment.

"It can mean lesser paper works, lesser bureaucratic red tape and lesser expenses in terms of implementation," he said.

On the other hand, Nograles conceded that those who opposed the draft of the bicameral committee were correct in saying that the House had given up too much.

Nograles added that "there was some sense" to the argument that the creation of a separate regulatory body would ensure that the cost of medicine would be monitored.