Sen. Bam Aquino assured that the implementation of the free college law will not be hampered by the re-enacted budget.

“Walang dapat ipangamba ang mga estudyante at mga magulang dahil tiniyak ng Kongreso na mayroong pondo ang libreng kolehiyo, kahit sa ilalim pa ng re-enacted budget o ng 2019 budget,”  said Sen. Bam, principal sponsor of Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

Sen. Bam made the clarification to allay fears of students and parents after different government agencies experience funding issues due to the re-enacted budget.

 “Dahil tuluy-tuloy ang pagpapatupad ng libreng kolehiyo, makatutulong ito para kayanin ng mahihirap na pamilyang Pilipino ang pasanin ng mataas na presyo ng bilihin,” added Sen. Bam, who pushed for the law’s passage during his term as chairman of the Committee on Education.

 Earlier, Sen. Bam called for the full implementation of the free college law in 2019, where students in public universities and colleges won’t have to shell out a single centavo on tuition, miscellaneous and other mandatory fees.

This, after Sen. Bam received a commitment from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) that it will issue a memorandum prohibiting state universities and colleges (SUCs) from charging mandatory fees.

Sen. Bam is also pushing for the full release of the budget for the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) program to student-beneficiaries in both public and private education institutions.