Makati City 2nd district Rep. Luis Campos Jr. (Facebook)

Why not launch a nursing program on top of the new Doctor of Medicine program? 

This was Makati City 2nd district Rep. Luis Campos Jr.'s suggestion to the University of the Philippines (UP) in connection with its Mindanao campus. 

Campos, in a statement Sunday, June 2, said doing so would democratize student admissions there. 

“Now that UP has decided to launch a Doctor of Medicine program in its Mindanao campus, the university might as well also offer a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) program there,” he said. 

“We are prepared to support UP with additional funding, if necessary, should it choose to put up a nursing school in Mindanao,” added Campos, a vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations. 

Campos, spouse of Makati City Mayor Abby Binay, says he is counting on UP and other state universities and colleges (SUCs) “to invest aggressively in the country’s future nursing workforce” amid the looming national and global shortage of practitioners. 

Campos previously filed House Resolution (HR) No. 1510, which pressed for a P1-billion special education fund to enable SUCs that still do not offer the BSN program to start their own nursing schools. 

In his resolution, Campos noted that of the 117 SUCs countrywide, only 44 have nursing schools. 

UP President Angelo Jimenez recently announced that the university will introduce the Doctor of Medicine program in its Mindanao campus in Mintal, Davao City beginning academic year 2025-2026. 

Meanwhile, Campos said the UP Manila College of Nursing “can help establish a nursing school in the university’s Mindanao campus". 

“The advantage of SUCs such as UP offering BSN programs is that these can be accessed freely by underprivileged but qualified high school graduates,” the veteran solon pointed out. 

Under the Universal Access to Tertiary Education Act of 2017, the national government pays for the tuition and other school fees of students taking up a four-year bachelor’s degree program, including nursing, in SUCs. 

The UP Manila College of Nursing is among the country’s best nursing schools. 

The school’s graduates hold the distinction of consistently achieving a 100 percent passing rate in the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination (PNLE) since 1948.