SENATOR Ralph Recto on Saturday gave assurances all students enrolled in any state university and college in the country, including the University of the Philippines, will no longer pay tuition starting next school year.
He said the disbursement of the P8-billion budget for free public college education and the implementation of its policy will not be affected by the present disarray in the Commission on Higher Education’s organization, the agency that will handle the budget.
Subordinates of CHED chairwoman Patricia Licuanan are calling for her resignation following a walkout during a national directorate meeting last Monday.
The CHED personnel also issued a manifesto of support for the Duterte administration and called for the ouster of Licuanan, recently barred by the President from attending Cabinet meetings.
“Even without a chairman, this will not affect the [free public college education] program,” said Recto.
Recto explained CHED, to which the P8 billion will be lodged, would not have to go through the individual records of every student enrolled in Suc.
“This will not be retail spending on their part. All it has to do is to disburse to the 114 state universities and colleges the amount that their students would have paid for tuition,” he said.
Recto said apprehensions from some quarters in CHED may have been prodded by its experience of failing to spend billions of pesos in scholarship fund several years ago.
He also downplayed fears his sponsored provision in the 2017 general appropriations bill would be vetoed by Malacañang.
“All presidential candidates in the last election issued the promise that tuition in state colleges will be free, that included President Digong,” said Recto, adding the free tuition in public colleges provision was a fact-based advocacy.
The P8-billion fund will be distributed among 114 Sucs based on the amount of tuition each school is projected to collect next year as reported in the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing document.
For 2017, forecast Sucs’ earnings from tuition is P7.78 billion out of total expected internally-generated income of P17.62 billion.
Recto said the P8 billion would fund “free tuition” and would not cover other school fees like dormitory use and laboratory fees.
“The free tuition fund will guarantee that students from poor farming and fishing families, and from the urban poor will not shell out money for basic matriculation,” he said.
Covered by this endowment, he explained, are students from 4P [Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program] families, thus “guaranteeing that the last mile in their search for education is partially financed.”
While Congress has the option to simply write a provision in the national budget that state college tuition is free, Recto said, Sucs will be at the losing end if the expected foregone income would not be reimbursed by Congress.
Recto thanked fellow senator and Senate Finance Committee chairman Loren Legarda for fighting for this provision.
“She did a great job. This is a unanimous, bipartisan product. Every senator is an author of this provision.”
Lawmakers said giving free college education would greatly benefit those who have the potential to succeed in life but are impeded by poverty and their inability to get an education supported by the Sucs.