MANILA, Philippines — Former president and now Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has joined former House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in endorsing the use or legalization of marijuana for medical purposes.

“The use of cannabis for medical purposes is provided for by both existing international and national law,” the congresswoman of Pampanga’s second district stated in House Bill 7817 that she authored.

“It is the intention of this bill to have a harmonious partnership between the physician and a patient where no one is above the other,” Arroyo explained.

It was actually a re-filing of HB 6517 that she filed in the previous 18th Congress (2019-2022).

HB 6517 reached the second reading phase but failed to make it to the House plenary.

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