HERE'S good news for those dreaming to become doctors, but can't afford the skyrocketing cost of a medical degree.

In a statement issued on June 16, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said that incoming and currently enrolled students in government-run medical schools can avail of free tuition beginning academic year 2017-2018.

CHED Commissioner Prospero De Vera said CHED and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) have signed a joint memorandum circular and have already finalized the implementing rules and regulations of the ₱317.1-million student financial assistance fund in the 2017 budget.

"The initiative is a response to the continuing lack of doctors in the country caused by the high cost of medical education, overseas migration and brain drain," De Vera said, adding that the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte wants to solve this problem by subsidizing the tuition of medical students and by facilitating their residency and practice in the different parts of the country.

He said the fund will be divided among eight SUCs offering Doctor of Medicine – Mariano Marcos State University, University of Northern Philippines, Cagayan State University, Bicol University, West Visayas State University, Mindanao State University, University of the Philippines at Leyte, and University of the Philippines-Manila

To qualify for the assistance fund, a student must meet the following requirements: 1) pass the admission requirements of the SUCs where they want to study, 2) enroll in an authorized Doctor of Medicine program of the SUCs, 3) maintain a prescribed general weighted average or at least a passing grade, and 4) carry a regular academic load and complete the degree within the period allowed in the university.

Upon enrolment, applicants must submit an accomplished form directly to the SUC concerned, together with required documents, including a duly-certified copy of grades for the latest semester or term attended.

While the implementing guidelines do not mention an applicants' capacity to pay, applicants must also submit the latest Income Tax Return (ITR) of their parents or guardians.

De Vera said student-grantees will also have to render one year of service in the country for every year of cash grant received as part of their public service responsibility. This is to make sure that the students stay and serve in the country after graduation in exchange for the public subsidy given for their education.

This commitment, which is already being carried out for all medical and other health-related courses in UP, may also be carried out in the other SUSs by letting their graduates serve as doctors in government or private hospitals, local government health facilities, or as doctors to the barrios.”

Last April, too, CHED and the DBM released a joint memorandum circular that allocated P8 billion to subsidize the tuition of all undergraduate students in the more than 100 SUCs in the country.

Meanwhile, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara said the CHED’s move to provide free tuition for medical students in selected SUCs is a good start but it should also convince Congress to act and pass a law that would ensure the continuity of the program.

Angara expressed hope that with the initiative of CHED, lawmakers would now find it necessary to pass the Senate Bill 1157 a priority. The bill seeks to establish a medical scholarship program in the country and intends to finance the medical schooling of a beneficiary who, after completing his studies and passing the medical board examinations, will serve as a doctor in the public hospital in his home province.

Based on DoH data, there is one doctor for every 33,000 Filipinos, far from the World Health Organization standard of one doctor for every 20,000 population. Recent data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that three out of five Filipinos die without seeing a doctor, nurse or any other allied health professional.