ACT solon: ‘Return Service’ requirement in free higher education law is baseless

Rep. Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers partylist. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has agreed to scrap the return service requirement in the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (UAQTEA) of 2017.

Isabela 4th District Rep. Ma. Lourdes Aggabao, vice chair of the appropriations panel who sponsored CHED’s budget, said this during the early Thursday House plenary debates on CHED’s proposed budget for 2019. The issue was raised by ACT-Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio.

“Nirerehistro ko on the record na walang legal na batayan ang pagpasok ng CHED sa IRR ng free tertiary education ng return service requirement,” Tinio said.

When Aggabao said the CHED has decided to delete it from the IRR, Tinio said: “I am happy but will be even happier once I see the CHED Order. However, since it is on the record that the CHED has committed, then I will be satisfied.”

CHED’s IRR for Republic Act No. 10931 states that State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local University Colleges (LUCs) “shall formulate and implement a Return Service Agreement (RSA) System for students benefitting from the free higher education provision of this Act, as part of their admission and retention policies.”

“Such guidelines shall be approved by their respective governing boards and the CHED,” it added.

But Tinio has argued during the appropriations committee budget briefings and this morning’s plenary debates that there was nothing in the free higher education law that authorizes the RSA.

“Ipinasok ng CHED sa IRR ng RA 10931 ang Return Service requirement kahit wala itong anumang batayan sa naturang batas,” he said in a separate statement.

“Winawasak nito ang pinaka-esensya ng batas dahil kung may kapalit na serbisyo, hindi na tunay na libre ang edukasyon sa kolehiyo. Kaya iginiit ko sa interpellation kaninang madaling araw na dapat tanggalin ito sa IRR,” he added. /jpv

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