Ni: Ellson A. Quismorio
Na-realign na ng Kamara ang mga pondo para mapaglaanan ang pagpapatupad ng Republic Act 10931 o ang Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, kinumpirma kahapon ni House Appropriations Committee Chairman Davao City 1st District Rep. Karlo Nograles.
“I’m happy to announce we’ve found P40 billion to finance the free higher education [law] for 2018,” sinabi ni Nograles sa mga mamamahayag sa isang press conference.
Sinabi ng solon na ang halaga ay “cover for everything” na ipagkakaloob para sa nasabing batas, na nilagdaan noong nakaraang buwan ni Pangulong Duterte.
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Sakop ng nasabing batas ang mga estudyante mula sa 114 na State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) sa bansa, 16 na Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) na accredited ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED), at 122 Technical-Vocational Institutions (TVIs) sa ilalim ng Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“We got P30 billion from the Department of Education (DepEd) for their school building program particularly those with problems on their [having] no buildable space, no vacant lot...we were able to carve out P30 billion from that budget.
“The rest: from the Department of Transportation (DOTr), there are two projects there in the detailed engineering planning...it’s an ODA (Official Development Assistance) project, it is the EDSA BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) project and the Quezon Avenue BRT project. So both of them combined we were able to get P3 billion to add to the free higher education [fund],” sabi ni Nograles.
Bukod diyan, nakakalap din ang Kamara ng P6 bilyon mula sa iba’t ibang scholarship programs sa SUCs at CHED.
“We also had various reductions in the projects of the DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology) for ICT systems and infrastructure. So all in all we were able to raise P40 billion,” paliwanag ni Nograles.
