House OKs bill halting student loans during calamities, emergencies

The House of Representatives okays a proposed measure imposing a moratorium on university and college students’ loans during calamities in the plenary session on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has finally approved a proposed measure imposing a moratorium on university and college students’ loans during calamities and other emergencies.

During Tuesday’s plenary session, House Bill (HB) No. 9978 or the proposed Moratorium on Payment of Student Loan Act was okayed in the third and final reading with 255 lawmakers present voting in the affirmative. No legislator abstained or voted against the bill.

HB No. 9978, which is a consolidation of HB Nos. 5462, 7279, and 7710, seeks to provide a moratorium to students enrolled in state universities and colleges, local universities and colleges, higher educational institutions, and technical-vocational institutions who reside in “barangays, municipalities, cities, provinces, or regions under a state of calamity or state of emergency, as may be declared by the President of the Republic of the Philippines or the concerned local [board].”

It states that the moratorium will not “adversely affect the status of the concerned students with regard to their eligibility for re-enrollment on the succeeding semesters or terms” or even their eligibility for graduation.

Schools are also not prevented from implementing more favorable forms of payment or assistance to students under the proposed law.

Meanwhile, the bill defines crisis as a “stressful situation, crucial time or state of affairs characterized by instability, breakdown or disruption in the usual or normal daily activities, especially one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome.”

HB No. 9978 was passed on a second reading last March 12, or almost a year after Quezon City 1st District Rep. Arjo Atayde filed HB No. 7279 to help families cope with emergencies and other pressing needs.

A similar bill was filed during the 18th Congress by Senator Lito Lapid, covering students under the same circumstances. But it failed to secure the approval of Congress due to time constraints.

In March last year, the Senate passed on second reading Senate Bill No. 1864 or the proposed Student Loan Payment Moratorium During Disasters and Emergencies.