By John Vincent B. Toribio

With adequate funds poured from the national government, the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) now pursues an aggressive development plan to increase the carrying capacity of the College of Medicine (COM).

The funds, amounting to Php 82,687,000, were included in the University’s budget in the 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA), through the initiative of Sen. Sonny Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance. 

With this amount, the COM is enabled to increase enrolment, hire additional full-time faculty, further capacitate its instructional workforce, and construct a new Academic Building as it gears up to be a center of quality medical education in northern Luzon. Long-range plans include the establishment of a Health and Wellness Complex that shall cater to the needs of the University’s health-related programs, as well as to the people of Ilocandia. 

University President Shirley C. Agrupis expressed her gratitude for this initiative saying, “With the selfless dedication of the COM, and the support of the good senator, our vision for our medical school goes beyond being a pandemic-responsive academic institution, but as a genesis for future medical leaders.” 

Earlier, Sen. Angara has also filed Senate Bill No. 1850 (proposed Healthcare Facility Augmentation Act), which seeks to establish a hospital in every state university and college offering a medical degree program in a bid to fortify the country’s health system.

Meanwhile, Senator Joel Villanueva authored the Doktor Para sa Bayan Law which implements the increase of scholarship slots for aspiring medical students.

At present, MMSU is one among the nine SUCs in the country that offer a medical degree. Others are the University of Northern Philippines, University of the Philippines- Leyte, Cagayan State University, Mindanao State University- General Santos, Bicol University, West Visayas State University, Mindanao State University- Marawi, and University of the Philippines-Manila. (StratCom)
 

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