Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 2) — Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno admitted subsidizing tuition in state universities and colleges (SUCs) is too costly for the government.
Diokno told House Appropriations Committee members during the hearing on the proposed 2018 national budget on Tuesday that the government cannot afford the budget requirements of the tuition bill.
“It was not in the 2018 budget of the President. In the absence of any law, we cannot appropriate money for free tuition,” Diokno told lawmakers during the hearing.
Both houses of Congress ratified the final version of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act in May, which will provide full tuition subsidy for students in 112 SUCs, local universities and colleges, and state-run technical-vocational schools.
Unlike the 2017 budget, however, the proposed 2018 national budget does not have the P8 billion allocated for free higher education in SUCs.
The bill, which was submitted for President Duterte’s signature last July 5, will lapse into law on Saturday if the President will take no action on the measure.
“Bakit po nawawala ang pondo para dito sa susunod na academic year?,” Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Elago asked Diokno during the hearing.
“We estimate that the cost of this bill, it will cost us something around ₱100 billion. Hindi po kaya ng gobyerno ‘yan,” Diokno responded to Elago over her concern on the bill’s absence of budget for next year.
Diokno added the bill will only benefit students from upper and middle-class families since only a small portion of the poor are enrolled in SUCs.
“Only 12% of the poor get to the state universities, 12%, and when you say free tuition, you are actually subsidizing the rich,” Diokno said.
Socio-economic Secretary Ernesto Pernia, meanwhile, added they have already expressed their opposition to the bill as early as February.
“The budget for free tuition is quite large, it’s not pittance, it’s going to be unsustainable over time,” Pernia added.
Elago, meanwhile, said free tuition can benefit even the not-so-poor students since they are also been burdened by other school fees.
“Budget Sec. Diokno spewed out once again the old argument that the poor will not benefit from free tuition due to them being only a small portion of the SUC population. He clearly doesn’t know what he’s saying and completely misses the point that it is precisely because of continued profiteering in SUCs thru tuition and other fees collection that hinder the poor from enrolling in SUCs,” Elago said in statement.
In the 2018 proposed national budget, the education sector will get the lion’s share with ₱691.1 billion.
The Department of Education will get the majority of the allocation with ₱613.1 billion while the Commission on Higher Education will get ₱13.5 billion, and ₱64.6 billion for SUCs.
