Text by Angelou Mendoza

Photo by Erlyn Pareja

Citing the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines information on biotechnology, the Philippines is one of the Southeast Asian countries that adopted biotechnology and institutionalized its responsible use and application. The country delved into its research and development for innovation promoting agricultural productivity, animal welfare, and sustainable biodiversity preservation. 

The University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Visayas State University (VSU), to pursue biotechnology innovation,  formalizing the academic partnership prioritizing joint research and publications, consultancy, and academic engagements on Jan. 22, 2025 at the UP Manila Board Room. 

This initiative and partnership is a product of a seven-year persistent mentor-mentee relationship between the Vice Chancellor for Research Leslie Dalmacio and her former student, now a faculty member and head of the VSU Department of Biotechnology, Ms. Donna Christene Ramos.

VSU is known for its research thrusts on agricultural technology leading to the establishment of its research centers and partnership with UPM. According to VSU President Prose Ivy Yepes, the rich flora and fauna of VSU and its surrounding community lead to projects exploring the biodiversity of the area, funded by both the government and income-research funds of the university. 

“This year we are implementing the newly approved strategic plan and revised organizational structure. Actually, the faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences is one of the newest faculties and the Department of Biotechnology headed by Ms. Donna. Aside from that, we also have an Advanced Research and Innovation Center with Tuklas Lunas Center program with the former VSU President Edgardo Tulin,” VSU President Yepes shared.

The VSU president also underscored the pillars of their university–the research and extension focusing on biodiversity, climate change, food security, One Health, and transversal topics on artificial intelligence.

“This is very timely. I had a meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Zacate, and we were talking about drug development, and he was saying we should not just focus on drugs for humans but also look at the drugs for animals. Now, VSU, as an agriculture-focused university, I find this as a good opportunity for biotechnology research collaboration. My partners in the university network that UP is engaged with can also be his [FDA] partner,” Chancellor Michael Tee’s assurance of support to the VSU president. 

“This gives us the opportunity to advance extension services to serve beyond the usual teaching – the learning we gave from our own research can now be applied by the country, and what better way than engaging in the government so that policies and procedures can be shaped according to the development in the field of higher education,” Chancellor Tee added. 

To further its academic development, VSU has been progressing to the establishment of its medical program since the signing of the Republic Act No. 11974, known as the establishment of the “Visayas State University-College of Medicine,” authored by Leyte’s 5th District Representative Carl Nicolas Cari and supported by Senator Francis Escudero, the then chairperson of the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education.

According to the VSU President, a community-based College of Medicine was planned to be instituted in the university with the full support of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Prospero De Vera III and a recommendation to benchmark and collaborate with UPM. 

“During the time of Dr. Tulin (previous VSU president), the technical working group for the establishment of the College of Medicine went here already. Hopefully, we are opening our College of Medicine and ideally will also be partnering on that because one of the curriculums that we will be offering is community-based because ito po ang kailangan ng Baybay (City), where VSU is located, and its neighboring communities. And looking forward, we are also hoping to open a College of Public Health,” Dr. Yepes said.

Chancellor Tee assured VSU of  UPM’s assistance given UPM’s breadth of expertise in health sciences and its network of healthcare and medical stakeholders. 

The VSU president and her colleagues were given a campus tour of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) facilities, the state-of-the-art Clinical Simulation Laboratory at the Henry Sy Sr. building, the Anatomy Dissection Laboratory with the “silent teachers” and plastinated human body parts, and other laboratories in the UPM College of Medicine and National Institutes of Health to obtain insights on medical school development. 

These medical and research facilities are products of the Leading the Advancement of Knowledge in Agriculture and Sciences (LAKAS) program for campus development of CHED in 2022 and are now utilized for benchmarking activities of other local state universities and colleges (SUCs) in UPM.#  

Initiated by Chancellor Tee, the VSU representatives toured the Philippine General Hospital facilities, UPM Clinical Simulation Laboratory, Anatomy Laboratory, and other laboratories of the College of Medicine and National Institutes of Health.