Mandate, programs, and community orientation
- Section 2 requires the College to primarily offer a Doctor of Medicine Program, including an Integrated Liberal Arts and Medicine Program, consisting of basic science and clinical courses.
- Section 2 requires instruction using a learner-centered, competency-based, and community-oriented approach.
- Section 2 sets the primary goal to develop a corps of professional physicians to strengthen the healthcare system of the country and to respond to the human resource development needs of the Province of Leyte and Region VIII.
- Section 2 requires the College to undertake research and extension services.
- Section 2 requires the College to provide progressive leadership in research and extension.
Governing authority and governing law
- Section 3 vests governance of the College in the Board of Regents of VSU (Board).
- Section 3 provides that the Board’s powers are governed by Republic Act No. 9437, titled “An Act Renaming the Leyte State University in Barangay Pangasugan, Municipality of Baybay, Province of Leyte as the Visayas State University, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 9158…”, and other applicable laws and regulations, unless this Act provides otherwise or amends something elsewhere.
College administration and dean structure
- Section 4 provides that administration of the College is vested in the Dean of the College, insofar as authorized by the Board.
- Section 5 requires the College to be headed by a Dean appointed by the Board, subject to the Board’s guidelines, qualifications, and standards, upon the recommendation of the President, through a process involving consultation with the constituents of the College.
- Section 5 requires the Dean to render full-time service and serve a term of three (3) years, and allows reappointment to another term.
- Section 5 requires the VSU President to constitute the search committee for the deanship within six (6) months from the effectivity of this Act.
- Section 5 states that the Dean’s powers and duties include those usually pertaining to the Office of the Dean in similar state universities and colleges and those delegated by the President.
- Section 5 fixes the Dean’s salary to be in accordance with Republic Act No. 11466, titled “Salary Standardization Law of 2019,” and related amendatory laws, and to be comparable to salaries of Deans of similar educational institutions.
- Section 5 requires that if the Dean’s office becomes vacant due to death, compulsory retirement, resignation, removal for cause, or incapacity, the Board—upon the recommendation of the President—designates an Officer-in-Charge, pending appointment of a new Dean.
- Section 5 limits the Officer-in-Charge to serve only during the unexpired portion of the term.
- Section 5 requires that the Dean be assisted by a College Secretary appointed by the Board.
Faculty appointment standards and restrictions
- Section 6 requires the Board, upon the recommendation of the University President, to appoint the faculty members of the College.
- Section 6 prohibits making political belief, sex, gender, cultural or community affiliation or ethnic origin, or religious opinion or affiliation a matter of inquiry in appointing faculty members.
- Section 6 requires faculty appointment standards to be subject to the Board’s guidelines, qualifications, and standards.
- Section 6 prohibits any faculty member from teaching for or against any particular religious denomination.
Scholarships and nondiscriminatory admissions
- Section 7 requires the College to provide scholarships and other affirmative action programs to assist poor but deserving students who qualify for admission.
- Section 7 requires scholarship beneficiaries under Republic Act No. 11509, titled “Doktor Para sa Bayan Act,” to render return service in accordance with that law.
- Section 7 allows the College to require students using other nationally-funded scholarship programs to render return service depending on the contract signed between the student and the College.
- Section 7 prohibits denying admission to the College on the basis of sex, gender, religion, cultural or community affiliation, physical disability, ethnic origin, or any other forms of discrimination.
Academic freedom and institutional authority
- Section 8 grants the College academic freedom and institutional authority pursuant to Paragraph 2, Section 5 of Article XIV of the Constitution.
Government loans/transfers and personnel detail
- Section 9 allows heads of national government agencies and instrumentalities, upon request of the Board through the VSU President, to loan or transfer supplies, apparatuses, or equipment to the College.
- Section 9 allows heads of national government agencies and instrumentalities, upon the same request channel, to detail personnel to the College.
- Section 9 requires that any loan, transfer, or detail must not be detrimental to public service.
- Section 9 requires detailed personnel to perform duties deemed required by the Dean of the College.
- Section 9 requires that time spent performing those duties is counted as part of the detailed personnel’s regular service.
Assets, liabilities, titling, and reversion
- Section 10 provides that all appropriations, assets (real and personal), personnel, and records of the College, and its liabilities or obligations, are titled or named after the VSU.
- Section 10 provides that parcels of government land occupied by the College are the property of the VSU and are titled under the VSU’s name.
- Section 10 provides for reversion if the VSU ceases to exist or is abolished, or if the land parcels are no longer needed by the VSU.
- Section 10 states that in such reversion event, the parcels revert to the City of Baybay or to the Republic of the Philippines, as the case may be.
Tax and customs exemptions tied to education
- Section 11 exempts from customs duties, upon certification by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the importation by the College of medical books or publications, and medical equipment or instruments for medical, laboratory, or scientific purposes, under the rules of Republic Act No. 10863, titled “Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA)”.
- Section 11 exempts from donor’s tax all grants, bequests, endowments, donations, and contributions made to and used actually, directly, and exclusively for educational purposes by the College.
- Section 11 provides that such exempt donations are considered allowable deductions from gross income for computing the donor’s taxable income under the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended.
CHED compliance for establishment and programs
- Section 12 requires VSU, prior to the establishment of the College and the offering of new and revised courses and programs related thereto, to ensure compliance with applicable CHED policies, standards, and guidelines.
Higher education modernization as suppletory
- Section 13 provides that the provisions of Republic Act No. 8292, titled “Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997,” form part of this Act.
Appropriations and funding mechanism
- Section 14 requires that the amount necessary to carry out this Act be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.
Implementing rules timeline
- Section 15 requires that within sixty (60) days from the approval of this Act, the Board—in consultation with CHED—issue rules and regulations to implement this Act.
Separability and repealing effect
- Section 16 provides that if any part of this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts not affected remain in full force and effect.
- Section 17 amends, repeals, or modifies all laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, and rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with this Act.
Effectivity after publication
- Section 18 provides that this Act takes effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
- The Act is approved on December 20, 2023.