Free tuition – can we afford it?

President Duterte signed last week the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (RA 10931) which provides for free tuition to all college students enrolled in universities and colleges funded by the national government, as well as those in technical and vocational institutions (TVIs) under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The President’s action was hailed by supporters of the law in both the House and the Senate, particularly Sen.  Bam Aquino, co-author of the Senate version of the bill and main sponsor when it was deliberated on in the upper chamber. Aquino profusely thanked the President, his fellow lawmakers and the others who supported the measure that he called “a revolutionary education reform.”

Aquino shepherded its passage in the Senate when he was still chairman of the Committee on Education and as co-chairman of the Senate panel in the Joint Conference Committee which reconciled conflictingprovisions of the bill.

But while it is now a law, there are well-grounded objections to it, articulated mainly by Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who says the government may not be able to afford the huge financial requirement of free college education in publicly funded institutions of higher learning. Diokno estimates that the money needed for its implementation could go as high as P100 billion.

In signing the measure,  however, the President was said to have carefully weighed the arguments for and against the law and finally decided that its long-term benefits for the greater mass of our people far outweigh the cost. Still, the question persists: can the government really afford it? Among other things, the administration has this very ambitious “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program that will require huge amounts of money, at least for the remaining five years of  Duterte’s term.

Inevitably, it must also provide hundreds of billions more for the rehabilitation of devastated Marawi City and the rebuilding of government infrastructures like schools, hospitals, bridges, roads and buildings destroyed by the fighting that is now well into its third month. And what about the housing and other needs of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians whose jobs and livelihood went up in smoke?

The free tuition program will take effect starting school year 2018-2019 but the funding for this is not even included in next year’s dizzying P3.767 trillion  budget that is now with the Lower House.

Aquino allays apprehensions in this regard. He said Sen. Loren Legarda, chairperson of the Senate committee on finance, has already committed to include the free tuition funding in the 2018 budget. What may further ease the fears of objectors is the lower estimate of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) which puts the figure at P34 billion for free tuition and miscellaneous fees.

There’s also the assertion of Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra that the government will only have to spend a much lower amount of about P16 billion, also for free tuition and miscellaneous fees. Then there’s the suggestion of Sen. Ping Lacson that, I’m sure, taxpayers like me will happily endorse. He wants lawmakers to give up their pork barrel to help fund the program!

I also remember that Senator Ralph Recto had railed about the unutilized budget of several government agencies and questioned their capacity to absorb and use their respective allocations. For this inefficiency, he had suggested the reduction of the budgets of these said agencies that can perhaps be realigned for better use by the CHED and the TESDA for the purposes of RA 10931.

On top of that, Senator Bam also said that as a legislative measure, this law actually supports and complements the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) which was signed into law in October 2015 by former President Noynoy Aquino.

He explained that the law calls for the creation of a pool of money under a student loan program that will supplement other costs attendant to studying in a higher education institution (HEI), or to address unexpected situations to ensure that students will not drop out of school. This pool of money, he said, will be facilitated by UniFAST.

The senator’s diligence in pursuing the passage of this law is consistent with his long advocacy of providing opportunities for disadvantaged sectors to achieve a better life.

Before becoming a senator, he was the prime mover of the Hapinoy program, a social enterprise that has already helped some 10,000 small entrepreneurs, mostly sari-sari storeowners. Started in 2007, the program provides loans as working capital and trains them how to run the business efficiently and profitably. The program won in 2011 the Project Inspire Award of the United Nations, besting more than 400 other social enterprises all over the world.

At age 25, he was the youngest person to become Commissioner of the National Youth Commission, a position he held from 2001 to 2005.

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ON ANOTHER FRONT: The Sillimanians in Metro Manila (SIMM) will hold  its annual Fellowship Night on Aug. 12, 6 p.m., at  Heritage Hotel Manila in celebration of Silliman University’s 116th Founder’s Day. 

Three-time Aliw Awardee as “Best Classical Male Performer” Dondi Ong, tenor,  and celebrated Canadian soprano Jennifer Uy will be performing Broadway, classical and inspirational songs along with Dr. Marl Ferenal, the singing president of Southville International. 

Another highlight will be an inspirational talk on “How to be Happy Amidst Adversity” by Winston Maxino, COO of Hooven Philippines whose life story as someone who is afflicted with Ankylosing Spondylitis (a degenerative  and incurable bone disease) and with a talented daughter with Down Syndrome has inspired many for which he received the “Happiest Pinoy” Award. 

Everyone is encouraged to come wearing their favorite party dress and ready to dance the night away with music from the 60s to current hits. The one with the most unique hat ensemble will win a special prize. There will also be games and raffle.  It will also be an election and induction of the new board of directors.

 SIMM is the largest alumni chapter of Silliman University, the oldest Christian school in Asia founded by American missionaries in 1901. Led by Ed Dames, it has among its members Presidential Spokesperson Ernie Abella, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, BIR Deputy Commissioner Jesus Clint Aranas, CA Judge Ramon Bato Jr., art curator Jaime Ponce de Leon, Representatives Chiquiting Sagarbarria and Josie Limkaichong, Dumaguete City Mayor Ipe Remollo, broadcast reporters Claire Delfin and Ina Reformina, GMA-7 VP Oli Amoroso and from print media this columnist  Domini Torrevillas and Nilo Paurom.

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