Senators laud signing of proposed free tuition in SUCs

Authors of the proposed Free Higher Education for All Act on Friday lauded President Rodrigo Duterte for signing the measure into law despite the opposition of his economic managers.

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, chairman of the Senate education committee, said the measure will be “one of the lasting legacies of his presidency and administration.”

Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV said millions of Filipinos are the winners with the “revolutionary education reform.”

“Pagkatapos ng ilang dekada, batas na ang inaasam-asam ng napakaraming pamilyang Pilipino na libreng kolehiyo. Estudyante, magulang at pamilyang Pilipino ang tunay na bida ng batas na ito,” Aquino said in a statement.

The law mandates free tuition in state universities and colleges (SUCs), local universities and colleges (LUCs) and vocational schools under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) starting the second semester of school year 2017-18.

Aside from tuition, the law states that the government will shoulder miscellaneous and all other mandatory fees.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia earlier advised against signing the measure into law, saying the government cannot afford to fund such a proposal.

Diokno said the estimated budget for the new law is P100 billion, a figure which senators said was inaccurate. By Escudero's estimate, the figure is closer to P20 billion.

Senator Sonny Angara said Congress and the Executive must now work together to make the proposal “workable.”

“It's the first administration that will have such a law and we laud the President for signing the free tuition bill despite some advising him to veto it,” Angara said in a text message. 

“It is a landmark law and there will be a lot of challenges ahead in implementing all of the provisions of the law so Congress and the Executive branch and the educational institutions should all do what they can  to make it workable,” he said.

Senator JV Ejercito, for his part, said the law is an “investment to further equip our most precious resource - the human resource.”

According to Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra, the President signed into law the Free Higher Education for All Act on Thursday night. — RSJ/KVD, GMA News