15/01/2021
Press Statement
Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez
January 15, 2021
House Panel Okays College of Medicine in USTP
The House committee on higher and technical education chaired by Baguio City Rep. Mark Go has endorsed a bill that seeks to create a college of medicine in the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP)-Cagayan de Oro City campus.
Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez, who represents the city’s second district, is the author of Bill No. 8123, which the House is expected to soon take up and approve in plenary.
Rodriguez said the creation of a USTP college of medicine “will give students from Region 10 another high-quality medical school, especially those deserving and qualified students who do not have the financial resources to go to private schools.”
“A college of medicine in the USTP will provide excellent medical education and training to potential doctors. This will also address the shortage of physicians in the region,” he said.
He said his bill, if approved by Congress, would complement Republic Act No. 11509, or the Doktor Para Sa Bayan Act, which establishes a medical scholarship and return service program for deserving students.
“Hopefully, we can soon have a college of medicine in USTP, where students from Northern Mindanao and other parts of Mindanao who qualify under the program could take and complete their education and training, and do return service in their communities,” he added.
Rodriguez, one of the authors of RA 11509, said under the law, each town, however remote, is assured of one slot for a qualified graduate or student.
Aside from establishing the USTP college of medicine, Bill No. 8123 provides for its governance and funding.
The administration of the college shall be vested in the chancellor of USTP-CDO campus.
The college shall be headed by a dean to be appointed by the university’s board of regents upon the recommendation of the chancellor for a term of three years. The appointment may be renewed for another three years.
The powers, duties and salary of the dean shall be those pertaining to the dean’s office of similar colleges and universities, and those delegated by the chancellor.
There shall be an administrative council headed by the dean, with the college secretary and other officials of equal rank within the USTP-CDO campus as member.
The council will be tasked to review and recommend to the chancellor policies governing the administration, management and development planning of the college of medicine.
There shall also be created an academic planning council that will be in charge of curricular offerings, rules of discipline in the college, and requirements for admission and graduation.
The bill exempts from taxes all revenues and assets used by the college for educational purposes; grants, donations, endowments, contributions, and bequests; and importation of books and equipment.
Initial funding requirements are to be charged against current appropriations of the USTP, after which, the university shall include such funding in its annual budget proposal to the national government. # # #
