SENATE Majority Leader Francis Tolentino on Friday expressed full support for initiatives to build a college of medicine at the Western Mindanao State University or WMSU in Zamboanga City.

“Establishing a medical school in WMSU will greatly benefit Zamboanga City and the entire region. This is very timely because we need more doctors serving in the provinces,” the senator said.

“Gusto kong matulungan ‘yung pagpapatayo ng college of medicine sa WMSU, at ‘yung pagpapalakas ng medical education and training sa Zamboanga. Malaking tulong yan para ma-convert din ang kolehiyo bilang ospital balang araw,” he noted.

Tolentino shared that he learned about the details of the plan to put up a medical school when he attended a board meeting of the WMSU earlier this week, together with university administrators and officials.

The senator likewise attended a special Board of Regents meeting of WMSU in Zamboanga City on Thursday.

Interestingly, the World University Rankings for Innovation 2024 placed WMSU at 181st spot in its Global Top 300 Innovative Universities list.

The announcement was made last June 7 at the 4th Hanseatic League of Universities Conference held at Franklin University, Switzerland.