The chairperson of the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations on Wednesday said the newly signed law mandating free public tertiary education has already P16-billion available funds for its implementation next year.
Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, the panel chairperson, said the amount will be sourced from departments and agencies that are underspending or underperforming.
“The estimate of the Commission on Higher Education [CHED]is around P30 billion. Right now, we have P16 billion and we have source for this,” Nograles said.
Nograles said P16-billion fund would come from various scholarships in various departments that can be pooled together and consolidated for the full implementation of the law. The various scholarships can be found in different State Universities and Colleges, CHED, the Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
This does not even include additional funds that may be carved out of underperforming and underspending agencies, if needed, Nograles said.
“We will be consolidating all scholarship funds and spending them according to RA 10931 since this is the latest law that supersedes all other laws, and this law takes into consideration scholarships in SUCs, LUCs, TVIs and even private colleges and universities,” Nograles said.
Nograles said the newly signed law that was enacted last week will be implemented as soon as the Budget department and the CHED are able to come up with the Implementing Rules and Regulation within 15 days.
Nograles said that it was agreed during the meeting that CHED and Tesda must come up with an accurate figure on the number of students who would benefit from the free higher education law so that his panel can figure out how much is really needed to ensure its full implementation.
“We still need to come up with the total number of students who will benefit from this law, taking into account that for college next school year, there will be many seniors and freshmen coming in but fewer sophomores and juniors because of the K-12 program. This final number will determine magkano ba talaga kelangan. Is P16B enough or not?” Nograles said.
Nograles pointed out that the students who will benefit from the law will be coming from 114 State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), 16 Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) accredited by CHED and 122 Technical-Vocational Institutions (TVIs) under TESDA.
“What’s important right now is we know we have P16 billion and we have a source for this. If the required funding is over P 16 billion, that’s when we will consider sourcing from departments and agencies that are underspending or underperforming agencies,” Nograles said.
Meanwhile, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that the country’s spending plan for 2018 will be adjusted to fund the new law on free public college tuition.
“We will fund it. It’s not going to be an unfunded law,” Diokno told reporters in a chance interview at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, adding that allocations for existing scholarships may be used to fund Duterte’s new law.
The Budget Department is set to release within two weeks the new law’s implementing rules, which will seek to prevent expansion in college student population.
Beneficiaries of free college tuition however, will be limited to those enrolled in state universities and colleges, local colleges, and government operated technical-vocational schools.
Diokno added that high school students may be asked to take exams, reach a particular score before they can qualify for admission in public colleges with free tuition.
Qualified students may also be asked to do civic work while they enjoy free college tuition, Diokno said.
