1-Ang Edukasyon Rep. Salvador Belaro is one of the principal authors of the House version of the
Free College Education Act - House Bill 5633 AN ACT PROMOTING UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO QUALITY TERTIARY EDUCATION BY PROVIDING FOR FREE TUITION AND OTHER SCHOOL FEES IN STATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES AND STATE-RUN TECHNICAL-VOCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, STRENGTHENING THE UNIFIED STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SYSTEM FOR TERTIARY EDUCATION, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR. Seven (7) bills penned by Rep. Belaro were consolidated into HB 5633.
Thank you Mr. President for signing into law the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act that both chambers of Congress approved. Pinatunayan po ninyo na sa sa administrasyong ito, totoong “Una Ang Edukasyon.â€
Now to my colleagues in Congress, if we want to make Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education happen, we then must find the billions and billions of pesos needed to fund it. We must do this during these ongoing budget deliberations.
Congress must also double check the estimate of the DBM. The Congressional Planning and Budget Office can do this. P100 billion, estimated by Sec. Ben Diokno, would not be easy to find. We would not need just P100 billion for 2018. We also must think about all succeeding years.
These are the steps I propose to my colleagues in Congress:
First, we would have to realign some budget items. Specifically, I am looking at the Gender and Development funds which is one of the most under-tapped items. We support access to education for all genders. There can be other items Congress can realign.
Second, to augment the budget for free college education, the government can issue EDUCATION BONDS.
I suggest the issuance of long-term bonds issued in various denominations to attract small, medium, and large investors alike.
If government is unable to find the budget needed to fund Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education because cutting the budgets of other departments would just be too painful, then let us ask the entire country, the whole world even to invest in the education of our youth through the EDUCATION BONDS.
For the next five years of the Duterte administration until 2022, we would need at least P500 billion, assuming that DBM’s calculations are correct.
Let me take this opportunity to reiterate my appeal to add more capital outlay funds for not just some but for all state universities and colleges. SUCs need to Build, Build, Build also to replace and rehabilitate all those old and obsolete buildings and facilities on their campuses.
If capital outlays for SUCs will be added to the long-term bonds solution, we clearly would need more than just P500 billion for the SUCs until 2022.
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