SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez on Friday backed a proposal to reallocate the Commission on Human Rights’ proposed P678-million budget for 2018 to finance the implementation of the free college education law.
He said he would rather finance President Rodrigo Duterte’s recently signed Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act than give the CHR a big budget when it had failed to carry out its mandate to protect the Filipinos’ human rights.
“Why does the government allocate millions of pesos for an agency that does not fulfill its mandate when it can better provide enough budget for a scholarship program of the state to help the poor and deserving students?” Alvarez said.
“We will rather fund the free tuition law to ensure its implementation. The CHR does not serve its purpose anyway.”
Alvarez made his statement in response to the proposal of Davao Rep. Karlo Nograles, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, to use the P2.4589-billion aggregate budget of the CHR, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and Energy Regulatory Commission to finance college education.
Republic Act 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, provides free tuition and other fees for students in state universities and colleges and technical and vocational institutions.
Experts estimate that the law will require P16 billion to P30 billion to finance the free college education of students.
Voting 119-34 on Tuesday, the House moved to allocate a 1,000-peso budget each to the CHR, NCIP and ERC under the 2018 P3.767-trillion General Appropriations Bill which was approved on second reading also on Tuesday.
Nograles earlier said his panel was able to identify P37.5 billion as stand-by funds for the free college program, which will be rolled out beginning next year.