Aiming to further improve health education and health services in this part of the country, Senator Pia Cayetano helped Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) secure additional funding that will allow the university to increase the carrying capacity of its College of Medicine and College of Health Sciences, and to strengthen its futures thinking and strategic foresight program.

Totaling Php 66 million, the additional funds were added to MMSU’s budget in the 2023 General Appropriations Act passed by Congress and signed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos.

Of this amount, Php 43-M is allotted for the infrastructural development of COM. It will be used for the purchase of simulation equipment, finishing and furnishing its buildings, and the operationalization of the Health and Wellness Center by 2024. A bus will also be purchased for the COM. Moreover, Php 3-M was provided for the Higher Education Research and Innovation Project.

The amount of Php 18-M from this year’s provision is earmarked for the CHS. It will be spent to increase the carrying capacity of its nursing and allied health programs. This includes the number of students and faculty, improvement of infrastructure, and purchase of high-end equipment. 

Moreover, Php 2-M is allotted for the university’s capacity development on Futures Thinking and Strategic Foresight (FTSF). Recognizing the need to gear up for Industry 4.0, the university created the FTSF directorate; and, hosted the regional futures consortium training designed by the Philippine Futures Thinking Society in 2022.

University President Shirley C. Agrupis expressed profound gratitude for “most valued support” of the good senator whose representation obtained for MMSU “funds that will allow us not only to sustain our operations, but to embrace bigger opportunities in the service of our people.” 

Dr. Agrupis noted that the solid support Senator Cayetano extended to MMSU and other state universities and colleges speak highly of “how she advances education and health as key drivers for inclusive growth and sustainable development.”

The MMSU President further thanked Senator Cayetano for her big help in making MMSU a vibrant hub for futures thinking and strategic foresight, for which purpose the university hosted last year a regional training. The additional funding specifically for capacity development along these novel disciplines is expected to help the MMSU community further espouse an anticipatory mindset that disrupts the present in favor of our desired future.

Dr. Agrupis also assured Senator Cayetano that “these funds, and our 2023 budget at large, will be used for the prescribed purposes as we in MMSU always endeavor to produce optimum results.” (StratCom)