We can't afford free tuition at SUCs —Duterte economic managers

The Duterte administration's economic managers expressed opposition to the measure granting full subsidy on tuition fees in state colleges and universities, saying government cannot afford to shoulder its cost.

"We estimated the cost of this bill, it will cost us something around P100 billion, hindi po kaya ng gobyerno 'yan," Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno told the members of the House Committee on Appropriations during the deliberations for the proposed P3.7-trillion national budget next year.

Diokno made the statement after Kabataan Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago raised her concern over the absence of any budget appropriation for the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, which was approved by Congress in May and is awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte's signature.

"It was not in the 2018 budget of the President, in the absence of any law we cannot appropriate money for free tuition," Diokno said.

Elago, however, pointed out that the pending first package of the comprehensive tax reform bill currently being deliberated in the Senate was already reflected in the 2018 proposed national budget.

"We can easily provide scholarships to the poorest," Diokno said.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the economic managers have submitted a position raising questions about the "soundness of the bill."

"We find that the bill... will have very little impact on poor children of poor families... because only 12 percent of the poor are able to enter SUCs," Pernia said.

"The reason is that tuition is only one-third of the total cost of education," Pernia added.

The NEDA chief also stressed that free tuition will benefit children of families who can afford tuition fees in SUCs.

"In fact, many of them come from upper income families," Pernia said.

The Socioeconomic Planning secretary added that granting full subsidy to tuition fees in all SUCs will disadvantage private higher education institutions.

"Because there will be an exodus because of the attractiveness of SUCs, there will be an exodus of students from private to SUCs," Pernia said.

The proposed measure was submitted for the President's signature on July 5.

Elago said it will lapse into law on August 5 if the President fails to act on it. —JST, GMA News