House okays bill seeking moratorium on college students’ loan payment
A MEASURE imposing a moratorium on college students’ payment for loans during calamities and other emergencies has been approved on third and final reading.
House Bill 9978 or the Moratorium on Payment of Student Loan Act got 255 yes votes, no negative and no abstention.
The measure, a consolidation of at least three bills, seeks to provide a moratorium to students enrolled in state universities and colleges, local universities and colleges, higher education institutions and technical-vocational institutions who reside in barangays, municipalities, cities, provinces or regions under a state of calamity or state of emergency, as may be declared by the President.
Meanwhile, the bill ensure that it will not “adversely affect the status of the concerned students with regard to their eligibility for re-enrollment on the succeeding semesters or terms.
Likewise, schools are also not prevented from implementing more favorable forms of payment or assistance to students.
The bill also provides the Department of Education with the flexibility to determine the most effective approach to teaching basic education.
It seeks to amend Republic Act 10533, or the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013,” and aimed at ensuring that students gain mastery of knowledge and skills required in each succeeding grade level.
