Free Tuition Bill in PH Signed Into Law
On the night of August 3, Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the Universal Access Quality Tertiary Education Act which will grant free tuition in 112 state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the Philippines.
The signing of the free tuition bill was announced today by Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra at a press conference.
The announcement came unexpectedly due to the forthright opposition of many of the President’s economic managers. The administration, however, views free education in SUCs as “a cornerstone of the President’s social development policy.”
Now, the challenge on how to best fund the bill is upon the Congress. They may reallocate budgets from other programs, get aid from official development assistance (ODA), or gather donations from local and international sectors.
There is still a debate as to exactly how much funding the new policy would require. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had declared that it would cost Php 100 billion, while the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) estimated only about Php 17 billion.
The bill, sponsored and authored by Senator Bam Aquino, was submitted to the Office of the President last July 5 and didn’t get signed until two days before the bill would lapse into law.
Source: Rappler, Inquirer.net, CNN Philippines
