Senator Nancy Binay. PHOTO FROM THE OFFICE OF SENATOR NANCY BINAY
Senator Nancy Binay on Thursday urged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to help Senate find ways to continue funding free education among state colleges and universities (SUCs) nationwide, saying that DBM’s earlier claim that government could not afford it was “obscure and out of sight.”
“DBM can help the Senate in finding a mathematical solution to initially kickstart the Free Higher Education Act without affecting other priority programs of the Administration,” Binay said in a statement.
In an earlier claim, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that subsidizing the schooling of tertiary education did not make sense in an economic perspective.
“College education benefits the individual, not the society. Yet we recognize we want to help the poor get free scholarships,” he said during the first congressional hearing on the proposed P3.767-trillion budget for 2018.
The free college education bill, Diokno added, would cost around P100-billion which was “too much” for the government shoulder.
READ: Bill granting free tuition in SUCs OKd in Senate
But Binay noted that in 2017, the Senate was able to allocate P8 billion to the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) for free tuition and other school fees in SUCs.
The said fund was originally meant for public works projects in Muslim Mindanao but was diverted into the budget of CHEd.
“Nagawan po ng paraan ng Senado na mabigyan ng P8 billion sa 2017 budget. Huwag naman sanang gawing dead-end ang pagbibigay ng libreng matrikula sa mga estudyante ng SUCs dahil lamang sinabi ng DBM na walong pondo para dito,” the lawmaker said.
This allocation, however, went missing from the new budget proposal for 2017 as part of the P6.29 billion cut suffered by CHEd.
In the same statement, Binay appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte not to veto Senate Bill No. 1304, or the Free Higher Education For All Act.
The senator said: “Every parent is praying that the President would finally sign the free higher education bill. I hope the President does not veto the measure. We can’t just give up without giving it a try. Sayang naman ang nasimulan na natin.”
“If P1.13 trillion outlines the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure program for 2018, then, why can’t we outline a measly P15 billion to initially subsidize tuition in SUCs?” Binay said. “Let’s not further burden the parents of those poor but deserving students.” Winona Sadia, INQUIRER.net trainee/JE
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