JANUARY 8, 2026 — Senator Joel Villanueva is all smiles these days. With the Doktor Para Sa Bayan law receiving its biggest allocation yet — P1.095 billion under the 2026 General Appropriations Act — he has every reason to be upbeat. 

“We’re very grateful to President Bongbong Marcos for supporting our Doktor Para Sa Bayan law by ensuring there is sufficient funding to support the program,” Villanueva said, noting that this year’s budget matches the total appropriations of the past five years combined.

On paper, this looks like a win for the Filipino people. More scholarships, more medical schools, more future doctors serving in our public health system. Who wouldn’t want that? 

But the thing is, we’ve been badly burned. We’ve seen this movie before. Big budgets, big promises, and then — poof! — funds vanish into thin air, swallowed by corruption, inefficiency, or worse, ghost beneficiaries.

Let’s not forget that Villanueva himself has been linked to the anomalous flood control scandal. So when billions suddenly land in his flagship program, should we clap, or should we ask harder questions? 

How do we make sure these scholarships don’t end up funding “ghost students” who exist only on paper? How do we guarantee that CHED, tasked with implementing this, won’t fall into the same traps of bureaucracy and patronage politics?

Villanueva insists, “We want to ensure that the CHED will make good on their commitments so that the funds are spent appropriately and the goals of the program are achieved.” 

Noble words. But in a country where billions in education and health budgets have historically been siphoned off, words are not enough. Transparency, accountability, and public vigilance are the only safeguards we have.

Imagine the impact if this program works as intended: more doctors in underserved provinces, more lives saved, more hope for communities long neglected. But imagine the disaster if it doesn’t: billions wasted, trust eroded, and another generation left without the healthcare they deserve.

So the question is simple: Will Doktor Para Sa Bayan truly deliver doctors for the people, or will it become yet another billion-peso mirage in the desert of Philippine politics?

In the end, the real test of this law is not in the size of its budget, but in whether ordinary Filipinos will ever feel its promise in something as seemingly simple as their barangay health centers.

So we must keep our eyes wide open and watch Doktor Para Sa Bayan — and Villanueva — like a hawk … or risk seeing billions vanish again.

(Image: Senate of the Philippines | Facebook)