The vice presidential aspirant who skipped the campaign sortie at Bogo, north of Cebu province, pledged an annual budget of P98 million for the new medical school’s operations.After President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Doktor Para sa Bayan bill into law, Sotto made several representations at the Commission on Higher Education, prompting Commissioner Prospero de Vera to fast-track the implementation of the measure.
Apart from CNU’s consortium with VSMMC, the Western Mindanao State University in Zamboanga City will soon start its own free college for aspiring physicians.The two universities are identified to assist the national government in providing one doctor for every barangay as a way of making primary health care accessible, especially in the rural or underserved areas as mandated under Section 25.3.e and f of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of R.A. 11223, the Universal Health Care Act.
For 2022, the nationwide Doktor Para sa Bayan program has a total budget of P2.6 billion to be shared by the 16 state universities and colleges or SUCs offering the free College of Medicine program.