If amendments to economic provisions in Charter amended

MEMBERS of the House of Representatives on Tuesday said that the elusive Harvard University diploma can be within reach of many Filipinos if amendments to the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution are passed and approved by the people.

During the daily press briefing of the House of Representatives, the consensus among Deputy Minority Leader Erwin Tulfo of ACT-CIS Partylist, House Assistant Majority Leaders Mikaela Angela “Mika” Suansing of Nueva Ecija and Raul Angelo “Jil” Bongalon of Ako Bicol Partylist, and House Committee on Labor and Employment Fidel Nograles of Rizal was to allow the entry of foreign education institutions into the Philippines.

“I agree. Kailangan siguro nating i-open up itong pagpasok ng mga educational institutions sa ating bansa,” Tulfo said, saying that renowned institutions such as Harvard would encourage top Philippine universities to upgrade and keep up.

“Of course, ‘pag meron hong pumasok na mga ganyan, syempre po itong mga schools natin, yung mga top schools natin, they will strive harder to compete doon sa educational system standards ng mga schools na ‘yan overseas,” he added.

Suansing, who earned her Harvard Master’s degree in Public Policy in 2021, sees the value of allowing foreign education institutions into the country.

“Halimbawa po pumasok yung Harvard, pumasok yung MIT, pumasok ‘yung NYU, in terms of training our faculty … pag tiningnan natin ‘yung value in terms of being able to train our faculty, being able to adopt the curriculum of these institutions for the Philippine context, ang laking bagay po nito,” Suansing said.

She allayed fears that the Filipino identity or culture will slowly be forgotten if foreign education institutions are allowed in the Philippines, saying there are safeguards against these concerns.

“Once (their) curriculum are brought to the Philippines, it doesn’t dilute the way that we inculcate the Filipino culture, the Filipino identity, among the Filipino students. There are a lot of safeguards around that, once we allow these institutions to come in, hindi po natin dini-diminish ‘yung oversight functions ng DepEd nor the CHED,” Suansing said.

Nograles, who graduated from Harvard Law School in 2016, those students aspiring to study abroad will not be constrained by travel and education costs if foreign education institutions such as Harvard are allowed in the country.

“On a lighter note, ang Harvard po ay nasa Cambridge, Massachusetts, wala po ito sa Cubao. Napakalayo, mahal po ng pamasahe dun, kaya kung may Harvard na ho dito, eh di dito na po tayo mag-aral. Kaya sang-ayon po ako sa access to education,” Nograles said.

Bongalon agreed, and said, “why are we going to deprive our youth of this rare opportunity to access quality education na dadalhin po nitong mga famous universities abroad?”

“Yung oportunidad po na makukuha natin instead of going out to the country and study abroad. No offense, but yung mga mayayaman lang po ang makakapag-afford niyan. But the dream is always to get quality education, get masters degree sa abroad,” he added.

“If we are going to welcome and allow these foreign institutions to be part of our education institution in our country, this will be a very big help for our students na somehow makapag-experience din sila at makapag-avail ng quality education na dadalhin po ng mga foreign universities.”