Daza debunks CHED chief’s HDEF claim
Solon: utilize P10B fund for tertiary pupils
IN rebuttal to Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson Prospero “Popoy” de Vera III’s previous claim, Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Northern Samar 1st District Representative Paul Daza revealed before the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education that the “disputed” P10-billion Higher Education Development Fund has been used before for scholarships of tertiary students.
P2 billion or more than half of the HEDF in 2016, Daza pointedout, “was used for student-related support,” or “the provision of assistance, incentives, scholarships, and grants through Student Financial Assistance Programs.”
“Meaning there’s already precedent for HEDF to be utilized by CHED for poor students, needy students.”
“By the time Chairman de Vera took over in 2019,” the lawmaker lamented, the share for student assistance “has dwindled down to P170 million,” or 18.7% of the HEDF.
Proving his point further, “I looked into the law that established travel tax,” Daza shared, and affirmed his statement that The Tourism Act of 2019’s (Republic Act [RA] No. 9593) revenue mandate did not exclusively cater to only students under tourism-related courses, but prioritize them – meaning the rest of the funds can also be allocated to the scholarships of other students.
The House committee was continuing its deliberation on House Resolution (HR) No. 767, which Daza authored, that seeks to improve access to tertiary education while reducing dropout rates among the poor Filipino students.
Daza made the suggestion to tap more funding sources for scholarships after finding reports that enrollment in private and public schools took a significant dip and “millions” of students were unable to continue their studies.
“‘Pag ang puso po natin nandiyan, talagang gusto po natin tulungan ‘yung mga mahihirap, p’wedeng gamitin ng CHED ‘yung P10 billion today without having to wait for the next GAA (General Appropriations Act) budget deliberation,” said Daza.
“Nandyan po yung listahan sa inyo: 1 million students. Gamitin po ninyo ‘yan,” he said.
