Palace lauds House for allotting P40-B to free college tuition

 Presidential spokes person Ernesto Abella. INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

Malacañang welcomed on Sunday the House of Representatives’ move to allot P40 billion for the free tuition of state universities and colleges (SUCs) in 2018, as it urged the Senate to support the lower chamber’s initiative.

“We welcome the move of the House of Representatives for allotting P40 billion next year for free college education in state universities and colleges and locally funded colleges,” Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

“We hope that the Senate would fully support the House initiative so that more than one million students in our public universities and colleges can enjoy free tuition and miscellaneous fees starting June 2018,” he added.

Last August, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

The free tertiary public education, which Abella said is a “cornerstone of the social development policy of the Duterte administration,” was aimed “to provide all Filipinos with equal opportunity to quality tertiary education and give priority to academically able students who come from poor families.”

The P40 billion budget, Abella said, would not only provide additional stipends for very poor students, but would also allow parents to borrow low-interest loans to help their children complete their education. /je