Benguet State University’s plan of putting up a College of Medicine is in full swing, as the initial P45-million fund from Sen. Pia Cayetano to jumpstart the course is underway.
BSU President Felipe Comila said the P45M is already included in the 2023 General Appropriations Act.
From the initial fund, P25M would be used for equipment, P10M for furniture, and P10M for personnel.
Comila reported the initial fund from Cayetano was made possible through the support of Reps. Eric Yap of Benguet and Mark Go of Baguio City.
Comila admitted BSU is facing a bigger challenge, which is the construction of a structure to house the College of Medicine.
He said BSU will submit to Cayetano the requirements for the proposed building for further funding support.
BSU is also studying the qualifications of faculty members for the newest college, which could be opened by August this year with around 50 students.
Comila said the new building of the College of Nursing will be used to house medicine students pending the construction of the building.
BSU officials expressed hope with the establishment of the College of Medicine, more students from the province and nearby provinces of the Cordillera would enroll at BSU.
Comila cited the time of the late Dr. Andres Bugnosen, who was one of the few people from the province who graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Medicine and went back to serve the province as a physician for the masses.
Bugnosen pursued his dream through a scholarship and gave that back to the province through years of dedicated service. Bugnosen, who died at the age of 83 in 2011, was also a former governor of Benguet from 1988 to 1992.
“It’s a high mark what he did, that’s why very few followed suit. But the thing is anybody could have followed, had we all been given the chance,” Comila said.
Last year, Yap’s House Bill 312 which establishes the BSU College of Medicine passed the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education chaired by Go. The bill has been approved, along with four other proposed measures that seek to establish medical schools in various parts of the country. – Ofelia C. Empian
April 26, 2024
