Free college education, pay hikes for soldiers and cops delivered

When President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in July 2016, he vowed to provide a comfortable life to all Filipinos, a promise he reiterated in his most recent State of the Nation Address (SONA).

When he address the joint session of Congress in 2018, Duterte reported the enactment of the laws providing for free college education and increases in the salaries of uniformed personnel.

"Deliberations with the proper agencies also made me decide to push for, and eventually approve, both the Tertiary Education Act and the increase in the salary of our men in uniform, our soldiers and our policemen," Duterte said amid applause.

Three years into his term, the President's vision is slowly turning into reality with the passage of several measures that aim to uplift the lives of Filipinos through affordable education, accessible healthcare, pay raise for the police and defense sector, among others.

In August 2017, Duterte signed the RA 10931 or Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, which provides free tuition for students enrolled in state universities and colleges.

Under this law, students from 114 SUCs nationwide will no longer be required to pay tuition and other school fees when enrolling in their respective educational institutions, making higher education more accessible across socio-economic classes.

Students enrolled in private higher education institutions may also avail of tertiary education subsidy covering tuition and other school fees, while a student loan program was likewise established for Filipino students to further support the cost of tertiary education.

For the first year of its implementation, the free college tuition law received a P40-billion budget allocation, broken down for free higher education (P16 billion), free technical vocational education (P7 billion), tertiary education subsidy (P15.9 billion), student loan program (P1 billion) and tertiary education tracking and reporting system (P11 million).

Apart from affordable college education, Duterte also put premium on accessible healthcare for Filipinos as he, along with the Department of Health, set up several Malasakit Centers across the country.

Established in government hospitals, Malasakit Centers serves as a one-stop shop to serve patients in need of financial assistance.

In February 2018, Duterte himself led the launch of a Malasakit Center in Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, while other another was also set up in Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center in Manila.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the DOH was looking to establish Malasakit Centers in East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City and Rizal Medical Center in Pasig City.

In a bid to encourage the defense sector to maintain national security and peace and order, Duterte has also approved the joint congressional resolution increasing the salary of military and uniformed personnel.

The modified base pay schedule will apply to all military personnel under the Department of National Defense and uniformed personnel under the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine Coast Guard, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.

The joint resolution was signed by Duterte on January 1, 2018 and took effect on the same day.

With only three years left in his presidency, Duterte is still faced with other issues that the public is expecting him to work on, such as increasing the salary for public school teachers and putting an end to contractualization.

His fourth State of the Nation Address on July 22 could be the start. —NB, GMA News