REP. ELPIDIO Barzaga Jr. of the 4th district of Cavite on Monday chided the Commission on Higher Education for its failure to act on proposals to lift the ban on the opening of new nursing programs in tertiary schools.

Barzaga, chairperson of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said he wrote a letter to CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera III requesting to allow Kolehiyo ng Lungsod ng Dasmariñas to offer a nursing course to have additional nurses in the country.

The lawmaker said that underprivileged students from his jurisdiction should be given an opportunity to take nursing.

On September 2010, CHED issued Memorandum Order 32 prohibiting the new undergraduate and graduate program for business administration, nursing, teacher education, hotel and restaurant management and information technology education.

He added that it has been 11 years since CHED implemented a ban on new nursing program and De Vera did not act on lifting this despite the need for more nurses because of the Covid19 pandemic.

Barzaga called on President-elect Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. to replace De Vera with someone with integrity and capability to head the commission effectively.

De Vera’s term will end on July 21, 2022.