Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte highlighted the initiative of the city government of Davao to support aspiring doctors in Davao City in her speech at the opening ceremony of the 49th Midyear Convention of the Philippine College of Surgeons held at SM Lanang Premier’s SMX Convention Center on Thursday.
“Ang City Government of Davao po ay merong Medicine Scholarship Program at isa sa mga graduates namin ay member ng Indigenous People’s tribe dito sa Davao City. Bago po ako bumaba as mayor noong nakaraang taon, ang atin pong lumad doctor ay piniling bumalik doon sa kanilang lugar sa Marilog District ng Davao City para doon magserbisyo sa ating mga kababayan,” she said.
In 2017, the vice president who was then mayor of Davao City, signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with five colleges in Davao City for the implementation of the city’s scholarship program for law school and medicine.
The MOA is an expansion of the city’s Educational Benefits System for medicine and legal education aiming to find indigent students who want to study law and medicine.
Meanwhile, Duterte also thanked the doctors present in the said activity for their sacrifices to save lives at the height of the pandemic.
She emphasized that the experience of the nation during the epidemic served as a wake-up call to prioritize public health and create more opportunities for Filipinos, particularly the poor, to obtain medical care.
She added that the Office of the Vice President was motivated to create a medical assistance program and ensure that public funds were going to people in need.
She cited that basic healthcare was unavailable to disadvantaged citizens and members of marginalized communities.
“Coming from one of the biggest cities in the country, natutunan ko na mahalagang magkaroon ng mga satellite offices sa ibat-ibang lugar para masiguro na mabababa yung tulong na kailangan ng ating mga kababayan,” she said.
The Office of the Vice President now has eight satellite offices outside of the National Capital Region. These are located in the cities of Cauayan, Dagupan, Bacolod, Tacloban, Cebu, Davao, Tandag and Zamboanga.
