Lacson wants CHED’s Tulong Dunong funding deleted, realigned

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday questioned the budget allotment to the Commission on Higher Education’s Tulong Dunong program, noting that the funding must be deleted and realigned.

Under Tulong Dunong, lawmakers are allowed to implement projects and identify beneficiaries, a practice which has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, according to the senator.

“What I’m questioning is the implementation because legislators are allowed under Tulong Dunong to implement projects,” he said during the plenary deliberation on the proposed 2019 budget.

“They are the ones determining who the beneficiaries are. Some legislators are even distributing the checks themselves ... How could a legislator distribute checks to beneficiaries? This is very simple implementation of projects,” he added.

The program aims to provide financial assistance to tertiary students, a redundant function as the Congress already passed the Free Tuition Act.

“Tulong Dunong has become redundant and should be deleted and realigned,” Lacson said.

Unlike the Free Tuition Act with its prarmeters, Tulong Dunong is discretionary, the senator noted.

“A congressman can just choose the daughter or son of one of his leaders and make him a beneficiary. Unlike the CHED program under the tertiary education, ‘di ba, may requirements? Kailangan pumasa sa exam, enrolled na or about to enroll. ‘Di ba mas maganda ang programa ngayon?” he said.

But Senator Loren Legarda, who chairs the finance committee, refused Lacson’s proposal to delete the program because it is for students who are from the poor.

“It pains me to abolish a project, which has been there for a long time, because there are abusive personalities. Tulong Dunong is an augmentation, because even if college tuition is free other expenses such as books, dormitory, computers are not,”  she said.

“Tulong Dunong is intended to help indigent students,” she added.

Lacson said he is not anti-poor, noting that he was born to poor parents and that he  studied in public schools.

“But it is the Constitution. We might as well amend the Constitution to suit the needs of a program like Tulong Dunong and let the legislators implement projects in that regard,” he said.

Senate Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto suggested to include a special provision stating that a congressman may endorse a beneficiary but under the regulatory and vetting parameters of CHED.

“Halimbawa, since these are allowances to be given to poor students, then CHED would have rules governing this. The endorsement should follow these rules. Hindi naman pwedeng bilyonaryo bigyan ng allowance, ito ay para sa mahihirap,” he said.—VDS, GMA News