Rep. Atty. Art Yap of Murang Kuryente partlist has refiled two measures previously authored by former Bohol First District Rep. Edgar Chatto that seek to institutionalize the Bohol Island State University School of Medicine and the BISU Tourism and Sports Institute in Balilihan through national legislation.
Yap said the bills would give both programs a legal anchor to ensure continued operation and funding.
He said BISU can create and run the programs on its own, but without a law institutionalizing them, there is no guarantee of sustained funding from the national government.
Establishing the institutions through legislation would allow them to be included in the national budget, he said.
Yap said he has always been open to helping Bohol and considers refiling the bills part of continuing work that remains close to his heart.
He said he keeps in regular contact with Chatto on issues concerning the province and remains willing to assist whenever he can.
BISU School of Medicine opened in 2023 after the Commission on Higher Education approved the program, an initiative Chatto began pursuing in 2021 amid concerns over doctor shortages in the province that became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school supports the implementation of Republic Act 11509, the Doktor Para sa Bayan Law, which established a medical scholarship and return-service program aimed at increasing the number of doctors serving in underserved areas.
The program is linked to the modernization of Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital, Bohol’s regional hospital under DOH.
The Tourism and Sports Institute, meanwhile, broke ground in Balilihan in September 2024.
Patterned after the Asian Institute of Tourism at the University of the Philippines, the facility is designed to include a hotel, restaurant, convention center, dormitories and internationally compliant sports facilities, with the aim of serving as a training hub for tourism and sports programs across Bohol, the Visayas and Mindanao.
Chatto’s version of the sports and tourism institute bill, House Bill 9901, was approved by the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education in April 2024; an earlier version, House Bill 8875, had cleared the same committee previously.
Both projects trace to Chatto’s tenure as Bohol’s first district representative and earlier as provincial governor, positions in which he championed BISU’s expansion.
BISU itself was created through Republic Act 9722 in 2009, converting the former Central Visayas State College of Agriculture, Forestry and Technology into a state university, a measure Chatto co-authored with fellow former lawmakers Roberto Cajes and Adam Relson Jala.
Yap said establishing legal footing for the institutions is important to ensure the programs are sustained and perpetuated in the years ahead.
He said he will never forget Bohol, calling the province close to his heart, and described his work as continuing Chatto’s efforts to advance programs that benefit Bohol.