Press Release
May 31, 2017

TRANSCRIPT PRESS CONFERENCE ON UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO QUALITY TERTIARY EDUCATION ACT

 

PRESS CONFERENCE
UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO QUALITY TERTIARY EDUCATION ACT
SUMULONG ROOM 2ND FLOOR SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES

SUMMARY:

  • Senator Win summed up the qualifications of students who want to be part of the Tertiary Education Support Fund, "pass the entrance exam, is a Filipino citizen, bachelor's degree."

  • The unique feature of the Tertiary Education Support Fund will address the clamors of students regarding transportation fees, food and even boarding fees according to Senator Win. ". Pano yung transportation? pano yung boarding? pano yung pagkain? So this tertiary education na support fund ay i-aadress yung mga gastusin ng isang mahirap na estudyante."

  • Senator Win said about 50-53 Billion is the current budget for the Tertiary Education Support fund which will roughly help 5 to 5.5 Million students. Depending on the number of student loans and scholarship applications.

  • The budget handling and dissemination to the SUC's and LUC's will be handled by TESDA and CHED, Senator Win said. "Ang mechanism ng technical vocation is through TESDA, so bibigay sa TESDA tapos bibgay sa schools in different areas. Sa local universities naman of which meron about 500,000 students in local universities including Valenzuela, bibigyan sa CHED yung pondo at CHED naman ang magbibigay sa 106 LUC's."

  • Senator Win stressed that "hindi pwede i-deny ang estudyante at pagbayarin po sila. Pag pumasa po sila ng entrance exam dapat makapasok sila."

  • By implementing this bill it will increase students in colleges and decrease out-of-school youths. "So what this bill will now address is paramihan ang nag-aaral sa colleges through tertiary education support fund." The Senator said.

  • Despite the numerous rallies about this bill in the past, Senator Win also commended the students who aired out their clamors in Congress which helped in the crafting of this revolutionary bill. "Nanggaling naman yung mga ito sa estudyante, di naman nagkulang ang Committee on Education to hear them out. Kaya nga na include yung mga miscellaneous fees dahil yun yung ni-request nila and na compute ito ng mga mambabatas na kaya naman. So I think this will be an all-encompassing bill. Sasagutin nito ang lahat ng mga hinain ng estudyante na pasok dito."

[START RECORDING]

SEN. BAM: Magandang umaga, mga kaibigan maraming salamat sa inyong mag nag punta. We asked you to come because we wanted to answer some of your questions regarding the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act formerly known as the Affordable Education Act, formerly known as Free Tuition in the SUC's Act. This is a pretty landmark bill medyo major ho talaga to. This is a bill that we're all very proud of and we worked very hard for so we'd like to if you have any clarificatory questions. Although, I think the conference committee report is already on public record pero kung meron pa po kayong mga tanong na paglilinaw, we're here to answer that. Senator Win?

SEN. WIN: Thank you Bam, during the filing of this bill, to marami talagang nag duda kung kakayanin because it's really revolutionary. Nakita lang natin ito sa basic education never naisip na hanggang tertiary kakayanin ito, but with the wisdom of the Congress and Senate and with consultation and various stakeholders, especially taking into account the voice of the private schools we put together a much more comprehensive tertiary education support mechanism. So in this case makikita natin na hindi lang state universities ang kasali dito, we included local universities and colleges, as well as government owned technical vocational courses. Much more comprehensive ito taking into account yung clamour ng marami satin na kabataan, ngayon naging realidad na.

SEN. BAM: Isa po itong panukala kung saa yung minority and majority nagtutulungan. Last night we were chatting about it, na talagang contentious at nakita po na itong panukala ay lahat po kami sumuporta. And we feel that this is one of those bills where again, minority and majority supported it. In the house, CHED is also supporting it also and the Executive. We hope that President Duterte can sign this into law as soon as possible. Noong Simula po ng 17th Congress nagsimula po tayo as Committee on Education Chairman, pinangko ko po, ni Senator Win, Senator Recto, Escudero, Angarra, Villanueva, Ejercito and all of the others who are pushing for this bill that we will get this passed by this Congress. And of course as you know, many things have happened since then but in the end, natupad naman po natin yung pangarap natin. We are able to finally pass a measure like this which is truly revolutionary sabi nga ni Senator Win, at landmark legislation.

I would say that this is the major reform that the legislature has come up so far. If this is signed by the President, hopefully by June it will be the biggest reform legislatively. Ganun po kalaki at katindi ang programa na ito. Where after 30 years naging libre ang High School sa bansa ngayon practically libre na ang tertiary level education. Yung SUC's natin, our version actually was more conservative. Ang version po ng Senado ay maging free ang tuition fee, yun yung version na lumalabas sa bi-cam. Because of our friends in Congress, libre na ang tuition fees and other fees. Pagdating naman po sa private universities we have a provision regarding scholarships in general but after the bicam it's not just scholarship grants but also student loans now. So both the students in the SUC's o pampublikong tertiary education institutions at yung mga nasa pribado, meron nang posibleng tulong makukuha mula sa batas na ito.

Q: Sir [inaudible]

SEN. BAM: So for students in our state universities and colleges, pag napasa yung batas na ito, pang napirmahan na ng Presidente, wala nang kokolektahin na pera mula sa kanila pag dating sa regular fees. So tuition and other fees will be free, wala na pong babayaran wala na pong kokolektahin. In fact one of the provisions here prohibits our SUC's form collecting from our students na mandatory. Yun pa lang napaka-laking bagay na. Yung pangalawang aspeto, pati po ang local universities and colleges at TESDA run, Technical Vocation Institution, libre na rin po. Isang major provision na rin po yan. Pangatlo, mga estudyante sa pribado at pampubliko higher education institutions have access to scholarship grants and student loans. So this is the basic building blocks of this bill and we're hoping when this is signed by the President and implemented it will usher in a revolution in our education.

SEN. WIN: Dagdagan ko lang no, tignan natin dito more or less 2.1 million students in our public school system. This is from our state universities local universities as well as state run technical Vocation. You can probably add more or less 2 million in the private schools who will have access to the tertiary education support fund. So for example kung galing ka sa mahirap na pamilya pero nag-aaral ka sa private school, you can now access thus support fund. Entitled ka dito sa support fund para matuloy mo yung pag-aaral mo even in private schools.

Q: May mga condition or requirements ba para ma avail yung tuition or basta naka enroll ka sa SUC?

SEN. WIN: Actually pag nakapasa sa entrance exam qualified ka na, hindi ka na magbabayad ng tuition fee--

Q: Regardless kung mayaman o mahirap ka?

SEN. WIN: yes, ang qualifier dito yung entrance exam--

Q: Pero kailangan po ma-maintain?

SEN. WIN: We will allow universities and colleges to come up with a mechanism, to maintain a certain requirement standard para ma-entitle ka sa free tuition fee. Ang ayaw naman natin yung paulit-ulit na lang tapos tatagal sa schools. So we have to make sure yung estudyante na nag-aaral ay seryoso at ma-maintain din nila ang standards.

SEN. BAM: This is only for Filipino students, this will not cover students in our SUC's of other nationalities. Primarily for Filipino students, for undergraduate courses. Yung post-graduate courses pwede po kunin yun dun sa student loans, for all of grants and subsidies under the undergraduate programs po siya. As Senator Win has said, enrollment and maintenance of being enrolled in the particular institution.

SEN. WIN: I think to sum up, entrance exam, Filipino citizen and bachelor's degree.

Q: Yung mga situation sa provinces yung mga local officals ano yung safeguard to protect this program?

SEN. BAM: Unang-una hindi na yan magiging valid sa lahat ng SUC's. Of course you know we have that Opt-Out Program, we expect maybe around 5% to join that program. Opt-Out is if you feel that your family can sustain the expenses. Choice niyo mag avail Opt-out subsidy and magbayad sa eskwelehan. And we expect schools like in UP DIliman more students will avail of the opt-out program. In general lahat mabibigyan ng tulong. So yung patronage na ilan yung mabibigyan ng tulong dahil may pabor or dahil may onting tulak sa mga politiko, hindi na po valid yan. For the student loans ang kailangan gawin ng UNIFAST is to devolve the provision of scholarships to the schools na hindi na po kailangan mismo centralized organization. As discussed in the Bicam sa iba't-ibang mga bansa usually may partnerships with schools and local organizations para hindi na kailangan pumunta sa central para makuha lang yung subsidy and grants. Dapat po, at the local level nabibigay na po yun at even at the school base level. Hopefully that will help decrease any type of patronage in the provision of scholarships.

Q: Yung mga private schools pag nagkaroon ng grant mangagaling sa CHED so pwede pa rin ba yung mga endorsements ng Senators and Congressmen?

SEN. BAM: yes, but again the idea is, eventually sa daming nang pondo na gusto namin ilagay hindi rin namin kakayanin na isang ahensya lang. the best way to do it is for the UNIFAST law to devolve it. At ilagay na lang po yung scholarship applications at the local government and in that way mas protected tayo from patronage.

SEN. WIN: let me just highlight a unique feature in tertiary education support fund maraming nagsasabi, para sa isang mahirap na bata hindi lang naman tuition fee ang miscellaneous. Pano yung transportation? pano yung boarding? pano yung pagkain? So this tertiary education na support fund ay i-aadress yung mga gastusin ng isang mahirap na estudyante. Unique feature yan dahil yung mga gusto pa mag-aral pero hindi makapag-aral dahil maraming gastsuin, ,ma-aaddrees rin yun.

SEN. BAM: may provision for grants and provisions for loans and meron ka pang libreng tuition and other fees. Lahat ng ito pwede isama- sama, hindi siya exclusive from each other. If I'm studying in an SUC, libre na yung tution ko, libre yung other fees pero kailngan ko ng tulong sa transportation at pagkain pwede ako mag apply for TES o yung Teritiary Education Subsidy. For example, tapos na ko sa undergraduate program ko, mag ta-take up ako ng law o ng medicine or masters. Pwede rin ako mag-apply for the student loan program. The payment of the student loan can be tied in GSIS and SSS. So medyo may kasiguraduhan na makokoleta. In the past, our student loan program has very low re-payment rates and hopefully itong provision of GSIS and SSS being part of the scheme will allow better payments for our student loan program.

Q: Assurance na magkakaroon ito ng budget?

SEN. BAM: That's really up to us, yesterday Senator Legarda, Chairman of Finance committed to having this funded completely. Members of the majority committed to have this funded completely. Member of the minority, including myself, committed in making sure this is funded completely.

Q: Malacañang?

SEN. BAM: I'm sure Malacañang will support this, this is a major reform.

Q: 2nd semester of 2017?

SEN. BAM: yes, pero pinag debatihan yan sa bicam, pero sa enrollment is already on-going. Meron balita kanina na in Sorsogon State College, hindi na po sila nangongolekta ng tuition fee. So this is the 8 Billion allocation that we allocated in 2017 at work. But the 2nd semester, because ang prediction namin na this will become a law by June or July. This law becomes prevailing, ito na po yung batas and hindi lang po tution ang magiging libre, pati other fees na.

Q: so magkakaroon ng additional budget?

SEN. BAM: ang napagkasunduan namin sa bicam pagdating ng second semester goes from November to March. You can use the 2018 budget to pay for the second semester. Because on-going naman po yung second semester. Another option that Senator Legarda raised yesterday is to have a supplemental budget especially for this purpose.

Q: How much is that sir?

SEN. BAM: Senator Win yung numbers.

SEN. WIN: I think more or less nasa 50-53 Billion ang tinitignan natin to fund this bill for a year.

SEN. BAM: Yung School and Fiscal year natin magka-iba ng months eh. But more or les s meron kang first sem and second sem in a year. Diba? Di siya same school year, but more or less you need that amount para ma pondohan yung one year.

SEN. WIN: Nasa legislature na kung popondohan, kasi iba yung fiscal year from the school year, from June all the way to March next year. Pero nag bu-budget tayo in January to December. So i-allot na lang yan to make sure at least one sem will be funded this year and next year the other sem will be funded.

The projected increase by next year is about more or less 400 Billion pesos. Papalo na ang budget natin to 3.63- 3.7 Billion pesos so ang source ng fund ay yung sa 400 Billion fund increase. Kukuha tayo ng more or less 20 Billion pesos from that because as we speak, nakahanap na about 30 Billion pesos. So ang tinitignan na lang natin is about 20 Billion pesos to fund it.

SEN. BAM: Let me just add up to this point of the budget, yung budget ho kasi is a matter of prioritization. Yung pinopondohan mo yung tingin mo importante at mahalaga. Kung hindi mo to pondohan, meaning hindi mahalaga ang tertiary level education. Senate and Congress has committed to fund this because of this law and actions in the budget process. Tingin namin mahalaga pondohan ito. Si Congressman Salceda, who was our counterpart in bicam and one of the main authors in the congress version, he was telling me that in his province bumaba yung poverty incidents from 40% to 16% largely because of his Free Tertiary Education Program in Albay. So nakikita ho natin na itong panukala na ito, merong epekto sa ating lipunan, mayroon po itong positive effects sa ating pamilya at kapwa Pilipino. And the question of may pera ba diyan? Again kami (the Senate) magsasabi kung ano yung mahalaga at dapat pondohan at yung hindi mahalaga na di dapat pondohan. Now with increase of almost 400 Billion, ang tanong pwede ba tayo maglaan ng 20-30 Billion out of 400 Billion para dito? Palagay ko naman oo, because mahalaga po ito. Now currently, we are spending about 20 plus Billion na nasa budget na po yan. Ang balanse mo na lang is anywhere from 20-30 Billion but 20-30 out of 400 Billion is less than 10% of the additional budget. Noong pumirma po kami dito at ni-ratify po ito, eventually pipirmahan na ito ng Presidente. Pag pinirmahan na ito meaning national policy na ito so dapat lang pondohan siya.

Q: magkano yung budget sa local unviersites?

SEN WIN: In local universities, tinignan namin yung number of students sa public college and universities. When you say public there are three types, state, local and technical vocation. So itong dalawa ay nabigyan na ng pondo. Ang mechanism ng tech voc, is through TESDA, so bibigay sa TESDA tapos bibgay sa schools in different areas. Sa local universities naman of which meron about 500,000 students in local universities including Valenzuela, bibigyan sa CHED yung pondo at CHED naman ang magbibigay sa 106 LUC's.

SEN. BAM: And we also put a provision there that SUC's and LUC's basically makukuha yung pondo through CHED. Hindi ho sila pwede mag increase ng numero to avail this program nang walang approvals from CHED. Kasi yung isang concern is eh kung ganun edi lahat ng munisipyo magtatayo ng local universities and college, the answer to that is they need to be authorized and recognized by CHED. So kinakailangan po na yung mabibigyan ng tulong mula sa panukala ito naka programa din sa CHED na hindi basta basta mag i-increase at magbuo ng eskwelahan. It has to go through the budget process.

Q: pano yung IRR mababantayan niyo ba yun?

SEN. BAM: actually the current IRR, may mga pagsasalungat. The current IRR of CHED basically is a scholarship program na rank ka based on your income. While if you look at the SUC provision here, it's for all. So meron mga pagkakaiba siya and obviously since this is a law ito yung kailangan sundan. Hindi sila pwede kumuha ng IRR na salungat sa batas. Kailangan yung IRR magpapakatotoo dun sa mga batas. So the provision of everyone enrolled in an SUC receiving and then may Opt Out, bago po yun, nasa batas po yun. Wala po yan sa current IRR ng CHED. Yung sa pagkokolekta ng fees sa mga sa estudyante, wala po yan sa current na patakaran, nasa batas po yan, bago rin po yan. Yung provision sa student loan program bago rin po yan, nasa batas din po yan. So we understand that this bill doesn't only talk about principles, it also goes under some level of detail. Kasi nakita rin namin yung mga problema sa pag-implement ng scholarship program. So nabanggit ninyo na sometimes kung masyadong masalimuot, nagiging mahirap and inaccessible sa mga estudyante at nagkaroon ng patronage or palakasan kung masyadon masalimuot. Kaya pinli po namin na dapat mag blanket na po yung approach to tuitions and other fees.

Q: Can school refuse students pag umabot na kami sa quota, yung operational expenses?

SEN. WIN: In schools, depende rin kasi sa expenses na ino-offer nila. Sometimes may limitations yung resources nila. Ang ginagawa ng mga schools na puno na, naghahanap sila ng ibang course na malapit para sa estudyante para makapag-aral. We will also give that freedom to the schools. Kasi depende, sa amin for example ang focus namin ay engineering wala naman kaming ibang course, kung may ibang course man kami limitado yung slots kasi we want to focus on engineering. So that flexibility is there, pero as a rule hindi pwede i-deny ang estudyante at pagbayarin po sila. Pag pumasa po sila ng entrance exam dapat makapasok sila. I'll just add a few statistics lang, ito magandang highlight to sa bill. Every year, ang nag- grgraduate sa High Sch is about 10 Million students. Nasabi ko kanina na more or less 5 million ang nag-aaral sa college. Ano nangyayari doon sa other 5 Million? ito yung mga out of school youth. So what this bill will now address is paramihan ang nag-aaral sa college through teritiary education support fund. Kasi ang problema nitong 5 Million wala silang pang-bayad ng board ng pagkain so that will be addressed. So hindi lang natin tutulungan ang existing students but also pinapadami pa natin yung mag-aaral sa kolehiyo.

Q: Target number of students to cover this bill doon sa 50-53 Billion?

SEN. WIN: More or less mga 5 ot 5.5 Million students. Depende ilang ang mag-aaply sa loan o mag-aaply sa scholarship. Pero yung sigurado na which is about 2.1 Million students yan yung mga nag-aaral ngayon sa SUC's and LCU's and TESDA.

Q: Sir pag pumasok sila Sa SUC for example UP, as in zero yung babayaran nila? Pano yung other fees?

SEN. BAM: Yung mga regular fees, di na yun kokolektahin sa mga students. Pero if it's non-mandatory fees, kokolektahin yun, for example filed trips. Pupunta somewhere, kung di naman ako pumunta di naman ako pinipilit so I can choose not to pay that. But yung mga regular fees gaya ng tuition, library, laboratory fees, yun mga yun libre.

Q: Sir, para pakinabangan siya sa second semester ano panawagan niyo sa Malacañang at sa CHED?

SEN. BAM: Yung second sem sa November pa no, so palagay naman namin that's enough time na ma-pirmahan at magawan ang IRR. There's a lot of pressure to implement this as soon as possible. Lahat po kami nakatutuok dito, at napagkasunduan na namin sa bicam we will target November or second semester 2017-2018 roll-out.

Q: thing of the past na yung mga rally ng mga estudyante katulad ng UP etc?

SEN. WIN: nanggaling naman yung mga ito sa estudyante, di naman nagkulang ang Committee on Education to hear them out. Kaya nga na include yung mga miscellaneous fees dahil yun yung ni-request nila and na compute ito ng mga mambabatas na kaya naman. So I think this will be an all-encompassing bill. Sasagutin nito ang lahat ng mga hinain ng estudyante na pasok dito.

SEN. BAM: ang mga student groups nanggaling na tayo diyan, marami talagang hinain at pangangaliangan. Hopefully hindi na ito yung isa sa mga na-rarally because we really did our best make this bill powerful and bold. Major reform po ito and we're hoping once implemented seryoso po kami na gusto po natin makita ang gusto nating porma sa tertiary education.

[END OF RECORDING]

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