BATAC CITY-– Senator Loren B. Legarda has pledged to allocate an additional PHP40 billion for the implementation of the free tertiary education this year.
Legarda said the additional fund will help every Filipino family to send their children to state colleges or in technical-vocational schools in the country.
Speaking before the 2,553 graduates of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in this city last June 8, Legarda said “under my watch, I’ll make sure that all students enrolled in state universities and colleges (SUCs) and all state-owned technical-vocational institutions shall enjoy free college education as mandated in Republic Act 10931.”
As the principal author of the law and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Legarda said she immediately filed a resolution for the allotment of PHP8.5 billion prior to implementation of Republic Act 10931 last year.
“With the free college education, we have somehow leveled the field (for its smooth implementation). This is just one of the laws that I enacted, and I hope that this legacy lives on,” she said, hoping that other future senators will continue to put funds for free college education in the succeeding years.
Aside from the PHP40 billion, the senator also promised to help MMSU in its development programs and projects.
Together with Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Legarda was responsible for the establishment of MMSU’s National Bioenergy Research and Innovation Center, and has allocated PHP5 million for the wireless fidelity (WiFi) facilities of MMSU, and another PHP5 million for the upgrading of its Information and Technology Center to effectively implement the university’s Learning Management System. (Reynaldo Andres/PNA)
