Sotto-authored Doktor Para sa Bayan law to benefit 50 students in Cebu

Senate President Vicente Sotto III talks during a meeting with representatives of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and Cebu Normal University. Photo from Lacson-Sotto media bureau

CEBU CITY — The Cebu Normal University-Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (CNU-VSMMC) here will soon start honing the skills of 50 students, who were the first batch of beneficiaries of the government’s Doktor Para sa Bayan program.

Vice presidential candidate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, principal author of Republic Act 11509 or the Doktor Para sa Bayan Act of 2020, visited the university and Central Visayas’ regional hospital to ensure that the free Doctor of Medicine scholarship is on the right track.

“It is a milestone in my political, legislative career. I have been a senator for 24 years. I have principally authored and principally sponsored 244 laws that are beneficial to the entire country but to certain areas only… but I’m very proud of this. This (Doktor Para sa Bayan) program is so close to my heart.” said Sotto during a press conference here, shortly after his inspection of the medicine proper facilities inside the VSMMC.

Sotto also presided a meeting with CNU president Joselito Gutierrez, CNU-VSMMC College of Medicine Dean Dr. Ma. Socorro Manaloto, and VSMMC hospital director Dr. Gerardo Aquino Jr. to thresh out concerns pertaining to the program, including repairs of facilities that were damaged by Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai).

READ: Sotto promises aid to CNU, VSMMC for rehab of damage caused by Odette

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.

“I want more doctors in the country, more than lawyers,” Sotto said.

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.

READ: Sotto vows medical scholarships even for those with low grades

The Doktor Para sa Bayan Act establishes a medical scholarship and return of service program (MSRS) for deserving students. After passing the licensure examination, the state scholars will be made to render four to five years of service in a government hospital in the region where they come from or opt to serve in VSMMC.

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 (IRR) of R.A. 11223, the Universal Health Care (UHC) 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.