Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to provide free education at all state colleges

Duterte signs law on free internet access program in public places
Netizens celebrate the signing of the Free Education bill into law
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06 August, 2017

In a news conference at Conrad Hotel in Pasay City on Friday, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Duterte reiterated his administration's policy to protect the environment from destructive effects of mining.

Going against the advice of his economic managers, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, a law providing free tuition for students of 112 state universities and colleges (SUCs) on Friday, August 4.

According to Reuters, economic advisers to the president said the government can not afford the estimated 100 billion pesos (US$2 billion) a year cost of providing free tuition.

As such, it will entail changes in the proposed P3.767-trillion (US$75 billion) budget for 2018.

The bill, signed late Thursday, will spare all students at government-run colleges and universities from paying tuition and other fees, he said.

"We'll have to liposuction the fat and transform it into funds for state colleges", Recto said. "Unless we know 'X, ' we can't give an estimate", Diokno said.

Senators praised Mr. Duterte for his decision and vowed to cut "excess fat" in the 2018 budget to fund the free tuition program. He said Mr. Duterte had left it to Congress to realign the budget to include free education.

Senate Committee on Education chairperson Sen.

The presidential palace said adjustments to the budget might have to be made in order to accommodate the government's funding of free tuition at SUCs.

"We praise President Duterte for standing against the position of his economic managers", Valbuena said citing the position of Department of Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno and National Economic and Development Authority Director General Ernesto Pernia who previously expressed that the government will not be able to fund free education in the tertiary level.

Lacson said the allocation for SUCs in the 2018 budget was initially estimated at P20 billion.

On the earlier objection of economic managers, Guevarra said everyone had to help implement the law.

Opposition lawmaker Tom Villarin called the law a "victory for the youth and students who have relentlessly fought for the right to free education over the years".

"We must now make sure that this achievement is really felt in our SUCs during enrollment period, and not just in paper", he said.

Currently, there are 10,000 students, excluding those in the graduate program, in CPSU.

He added that there's possibility that students from private schools may transfer to public schools because of the newly-signed law.

Maningo said students enrolled in the first semester this year are already availing free tuition, though they still have to pay the miscellaneous fees.


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