(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the free tuition act providing tuition subsidies to state universities and colleges, local universities, and state-run technical vocational schools.
“If there’s a will, there’s a way,” Senior deputy executive secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Friday.
According to Guevarra, prior to the signing of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education bill, there had been “a lot of discussions about it because of its heavy budgetary implications.”
The bill was passed by Congress in May and was submitted to the Office of the President on July 5 for Duterte’s signature.
The measure would have lapsed into law on Aug. 5 if the President had not signed it.
But Guevarra said the President “weighed everything and came to the conclusion that long-term benefits derived from a well-developed tertiary education on the part of the citizenry will definitely outweigh any possible short-term budgetary challenges.”
Guevarra said that while funds for the implementation of the law have not been included in the 2018 budget, Congress could reallocate for such.
He said donations may also help.