Lasting legacies

DESPITE the many controversies hounding his administration, President Duterte, assisted by his competent allies, seems bent on accomplishing many impossible dreams that will leave lasting legacies for Filipinos.

These dreams include tax reforms through the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) scheme that will address the inequalities between the wealthy and marginalized Filipinos; the ambitious ‘Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program that will enable the country to be more globally competitive and generate more gainful jobs; and the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (RA 10931) that will provide free college and post secondary technicalvocational education for Filipinos.

Interestingly, the tax reform and free tuition programs are largely based on legislative initiatives by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, a noted economist, who also successfully pushed certain big-ticket projects under the Build, Buil, Build program including the Bicol International Airport in Albay and the revival and modernization of the 581-kilometer Philippine National Railways (PNR) South Line connecting Manila and Matnog, Sorsogon, among others.

Easily the most significant of these programs is the free college and tech-voc education scheme that will invest heavily on the Filipino youth. It will expand the Albay model of a similar program pioneered by Salceda when he was Albay governor from 20072016. The program has enabled 88,888 students to complete their studies. Together with his other creative program initiatives, it has helped reduce Albay’s poverty incidence from 41% in 2007 to 15% today.

When President Duterte signed the free tuition law, various sectors including key administration officials voiced strong doubts on whether the government can fund it. The doubts were doused after the House Appropriations Committee chaired by Davao Rep. Karlo Nograles, with Salceda as senior vice chair, realigned and allotted some ₱41 billion to it from the 2018 budget. Providentially, Malacañang recently announced that the P6-billion tax settlement by PAL can be added to free tuition budget.

Indeed, free tuition in state universities and colleges, local governments’ community colleges, techvoc schools under TESDA and LGU-run Technical Vocational Education and Training schools is no longer just a dream. There are 114 SUCs and 16 LUCs accredited by CHED and 122 TESDA-accredited tech-voc institutions.

Salceda said he conceived the free tuition program “to solve the continuing paradox that while college education helps us to escape poverty, Filipinos have to be rich to afford one.”