Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 11) — The Senate passed on Monday on third and final reading Senate Bill (SB) 2441 known as “Free College Entrance Act” and SB 1470 which seeks to amend the land use development law of state universities and colleges (SUCs).
Senator Chiz Escudero explained that his SB 2441 will mandate private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to waive their fees on college entrance exams for qualified students.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will determine and implement appropriate penalties or sanctions to non-complying HEIs, Escudero said in a statement.
Under the measure, HEIs will have to waive their college entrance examination fees for graduating high school students with the following qualifications:
• Must be a natural-born Filipino citizen;
• Must belong to the top 10% of his or her graduating class; and
• Must belong to a family whose combined household income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority.
The lawmaker said this will help the “poor yet deserving young Filipinos” get a college degree.
For the Senate Bill 1470, Escudero said it will require SUCs to implement an enhanced Land Use Development and Infrastructure Plan (LUDIP) Act. This will be a “blueprint” for SUC’s progress.
“All land use and priority infrastructure projects to be implemented by the SUCs within five years shall be included in their LUDIP,” he added.
According to Escudero, this will improve the mechanism of SUCs when it comes to its land use development and infrastructure plans and budget.
“Once the bill is enacted into law, the government would appropriate ₱25 billion for the next five years for the implementation of the land use and infrastructure projects included in the comprehensive LUDIP,” he said.
