The House of Representatives has realigned a total of P40 billion in the proposed 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to finance the full implementation of the Republic Act 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations announced on Thursday.
At a news conference, Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles of the First District of Davao City, the panel chairman, said the P40-billion fund will be sourced from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), P115 million; the Department of Education (DepEd), P30 billion; the Department of Transportation (DOTr), P3 billion; and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), including state universities and colleges (SUCs), P6 billion.
“I’m happy to announce we’ve found P40 billion to finance the free higher education [law] for 2018,” Nograles said.
“We got P30 billion from the Department of Education for their school-building programs, particularly those with site problem, no available space, no vacant lot…we were able to [get] P30 billion from that budget,” he added.
“In the Department of Transportation, there are two projects—the Edsa BRT [Bus Rapid Transit] and the Quezon Avenue BRT projects, so when combined we were able to get P3 billion from that,” he said.
“Also, we were able to raise P6 billion from various scholarship programs from SUCs and the CHED, and then the DICT [Department of Information and Communication Technology] [where] there are also various reduction on its projects. So all in all were are able to raise P40 billion for free higher education,” Nograles added.
Under the law, the government shall provide free tuition and other fees for students in SUCs, as well as local universities and colleges (LUC) and technical-vocational institutions (TVIs).
SUCs refer to public higher-education institutions established by national laws that are financed and maintained by the national government and are governed by their respective independent boards of trustees or regents, while LUCs refer to CHED-accredited tertiary education institutions established and financially supported by local
government units (LGUs).
Meanwhile, Nograles said the lower chamber has restored the budget of the CHR, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) from their approved P1,000 allocation after the heads of the three offices appealed to Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez.
However, Nograles said the House leadership only gave P508 million to CHR for 2018. Originally, the CHR has P623-million budget, which excludes P58 million for the retirement pay of its officials and employees.
With this development, Nograles added the restoration of the budget for the CHR, the ERC and the NCIP would already be incorporated in the final version of the General Appropriations Bill for third-reading approval by the House of Representatives in plenary.
The proposed P3.767-trillion GAA is scheduled to be approved on third and final reading either Tuesday or Wednesday next week, Nograles said.