No funds for free tuition, Duterte admits

MANILA, Philippines - The funding for the Free College Education Law remains problematic, President Duterte admitted yesterday.

Duterte, who signed the measure into law last week despite the opposition of his economic managers, said he still does not know where to get money to implement the measure.

“That’s the problem now. I want to ask you. I want to consult you about it. I don’t know. Let’s see,” the President told reporters on Monday when asked how he intended to get the funding for the law. 

Duterte said Congress had approved the measure even if there was no definite source of funding yet. 

“Congress knew there was no budget. It reached my desk and I know there was no money for it. Let’s sign it. Fine. The money? That will be our problem once the measure is enrolled,” the President said. 

Duterte signed the free college education bill last Aug. 3, a few hours before it was set to lapse into law. 

Economic managers urged Duterte to veto the bill, saying the government does not have money to implement it if it becomes a law. 

About P100 billion is needed to shoulder the tuition of students in more than 100 state universities and colleges. 

Congress is now expected to make the necessary appropriations to bankroll the free college education program.

Aside from the national budget, other possible funding sources for the program are the official development assistance and donations from local and international groups.

Lacson: Diokno must explain lump sums

Sen. Panfilo Lacson earlier asked his colleagues in the Senate and the House of Representatives to give up what he believes are their “pork barrel” allocations in the proposed P3.7-trillion budget for 2018 to help fund the Free College Education Law.

But Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Monday told reporters that there are no provisions in the proposed national spending program that give lawmakers discretionary funds for their pet projects.

Lacson yesterday shot back at Diokno, asking the budget chief and his colleagues in both chambers to explain practices as well as provisions in the national budget that indicate the presence of “pork,” including the presence of “big lump sums” in several agencies like the Departments of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Education and Agriculture.

He asked why legislators in both houses of Congress are being asked to submit lists of their projects just before the period of amendments of the appropriations bill.

“Why are there billboards in some jurisdictions/districts where some congressmen boldly claim that ongoing projects are theirs?” Lacson said.

He also asked Mindanao congressmen to explain how he was able to realign some P8.3 billion in the 2017 DPWH budget for the free tuition free provision for state universities and colleges (SUCs) if the said allocation was not originally intended to be their pork barrel.

The Supreme Court in 2013 declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund, or pork barrel fund, as unconstitutional and banned lawmakers from identifying projects once the national budget is enacted into law. 

The ruling, however, did not stop members of the Senate and the House from identifying their pet projects – in districts for congressmen and national constituencies for senators – while the budget is being drafted. –  With Paolo Romero