By Miriam G. Desacada
Tacloban City–President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (PBBM) had signed into law legislative measures establishing a College of Medicine program in each four state universities in the country, two of which are at Catarman town in Northern Samar and the other at Baybay City in Leyte.
PBBM enacted Republic Act 11972 establishing the College of Medicine at the University of Eastern Philippines in Catarman, and then Republic Act 11974 establishing also a College of Medicine at the Visayas State University in Baybay City.
RA 11972 came from a House bill authored by Representative Paul Daza (1st district, Northern Samar), while RA 11974 stemmed from a bill authored by Rep. Carl Nicolas Cari (5th dist., Leyte).
The Senate bill version was authored by Senator Chiz Escudero who said that the establishment of more medical schools is strengthening the local health industry by producing more doctors in the different regions, and fulfill the ideal ratio of 10 physicians for every 10,000 population of the country.
The President also enacted other laws establishing Colleges of Medicine: RA 11970 for a state university in La Trinidad, Benguet, and RA 11971 for a state university in Lucban, Quezon.
Under these new laws, the four state universities can now offer a Doctor of Medicine course to the students in their respective area. The President said this will develop a corps of professional physicians that would answer the needs for health services of their respective provinces, thus help improve the country’s healthcare system.
Northern Samar Governor Edwin Ongchuan thanked President Marcos for enacting a law that provides a College of Medicine program in his province, saying that PBBM had granted his long-standing request for such program to be offered by the state university in Northern Samar.
During the COVID-19 pandemic period, Ongchuan opened the PGNS Medical Scholarship Program aimed at increasing the number of physicians serving public hospitals in the province. So far, the program had produced four licensed physicians, while it supports the medical education of other scholars spread in medical schools across the country.
The governor said that, with PBBMs enactment of a Medicine Program in Northern Samar, more Nortehanons will choose to pursue medical course no longer in far places but in the province itself because of lower cost compared to taking it in other regions.
The provincial government foresees an increased need for doctors and other healthcare personnel in local hospitals as the demand for health services continues to rise, Ongchuan said as he cited also the implementation of the PGNS Nursing Scholarship Program, which will also enhance the delivery of health services to the Nortehanons.
On the part of VSU in Baybay City, its top officials thanked Rep. Carl Cari, incidentally an alumnus of the school, for authoring the bill, establishing a College of Medicine, which was enacted by PBBM.
“We also thank and congratulate our former university president Edgardo E. Tulin for doing all the necessary groundwork to make this aspiration a reality. This is a very timely Christmas gift for us,” the VSU officials said.
Cari, for his part, said: “I know that VSU would successfully produce future doctors and medical professionals, as proven by your records of producing excellent graduates that made VSU a world-renowned institution as one of the top universities in the country.”
For Eastern Visayas, PBBM also enacted RA 11968 converting the satellite campus of the Leyte Normal University (LNU) in San Isidro, Leyte to a regular campus to be referred to as the LNU-San Isidro campus. —Miriam G. Desacada