Sen. Ralph Recto’s interpellation on the proposed budget of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for State Universities and Colleges (SUC) in 2016.

TIMESTAMPS:
1. Free Public College SB 2986 – 0:00
2. Tuition Fee per student – 0:06
3. P10,000 per student subsidy – 0:14
4. National Budget is P3 TRILLION, we’re spending only P45B (UP & SUCs) – 0:42
5. Recto sourcing P8 billion for free public college – 1:02
6. TG says CHED has strong opinion paper, strong position AGAINST FREE PUBLIC COLLEGE – 1:14
7. Recto asks, is CHED against FREE PUBLIC COLLEGE? – 1:24
8. TG says CHED doesn’t agree with the numbers, costs so much more per student P70K/stud – 1:36
9. Recto asks, how much do we have in scholarships today? – 2:17
10. P2B scholarship + P6B sourced = P8B free tuition – 2:22
11. TG says CHED is for scholarship, but NOT ACROSS THE BOARD, because it will benefit the RICH – 2:40
12. Sen. Recto disagrees, states that these are public schools – 3:22
13. Sen. Recto states we had FREE ELEMENTARY, then we had more resources we moved on to FREE HIGHSCHOOL and then K-12. Based on the numbers, CHED can provide FREE PUBLIC COLLEGE – 4:08

“I’m flabbergasted and surprised that the CHED WANTS TO HAVE SCHOLARSHIPS BUT NOT TO PROVIDE FREE TUITION TO 800,000 STUDENTS IN STATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES. I cannot understand that. Again, the budget of the national government is P3 TRILLION PESOS. We are only spending 1% for SUCs, P33 BILLION. Why can’t we spend a little more? What’s wrong with spending? May P2B na tayo sa scholarship, dagdagan ko ng anim na bilyon ‘yan, madali namang i-source ‘yan sa dami ng pondo in different departments. Napakadaling ibigay ‘yung FREE PUBLIC COLLEGE.”

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