HOUSE YF REPRESENTATIVES:
RECEIVED
pare,01 SEP 2016
sive, Ay Ai
BY:__Porde
RERISTRATION UNIT
BILLS AND INDEX SERVICE

Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNO,__ 842"?

Introduced by: REPRESENTATIVE SHERNEE A. TAN

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Constitution explicitly mandates the State not only to make education
accessible to all but also to uphold the right of citizens to quality education

In pursuance of these Constitutional mandates, Congress passed
Republic Act No. 6655 otherwise known as the “Free Secondary Education Act of
1988.”

This is the most tangible reason that public elementary and high schools
are now found everywhere in the countryside, even in far-flung areas. With free
elementary and high schools available in the public school system, the number of
enrollees had grown by leaps and bounds over the years

It is sad to note however, that due to extreme poverty, pursuing college
education for most of our countrymen has only become an unreachable dream.
Most of these high school graduates end up as kasambahay, kargador, other
menial jobs, and worst, engage in criminal activities to earn a living. This situation
holds true in poor areas, like in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM). In fact, an overwhelming majority of the residents in the ARMM
specially the Tausugs, have no means to avail of the government assistance to
students and teachers in private education pursuant to Republic Act No, 6728
and its amendatory law, Republic Act No. 8545 otherwise known as the
Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers Education primarily
because they are imprisoned in the walls of poverty. They give priority to food not
education of their children. What they really need therefore, is not a subsidized
but a free college education

It is relevant to the ARMM, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority
(PSA), remains the poorest region in the country with poverty incidence among
households of 53.4% in the first semester of 2015 from 46.9% in the same period
in 2012


At least 11% of $73,446 of the 5.1 million poorest households are in
Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi, according to the 2015
national household targeting system for poverty reduction

It is not surprising then, that most of our Muslim brothers and sisters have
been way behind in terms of education, They are caught in a vicious cycle: they
are poor because they are uneducated. They are uneducated because they are
poor, Poverty is both the cause and effect of the lack of educational opportunities
for them.

The government, unlike in other parts of the country, must invest heavily in
the education of our school children in the ARMM, not in arms and weapons that
kill, but in education that sharpens the skill and intellect of human being, who will
shape the future of our youth, the hope our motherland

This bill therefore seeks to establish a free college education program for
all high school graduates, who desire to pursue tertiary education in any state
college and university in the ARMM. There is no substitute for a fact that
investment in education always pays the best interest and so, a ticket out of
poverty and good station in life.

The foregoing reasons warrant the approv:

Kusug Tausug Partylist


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 8427

Introduced by: REPRESENTATIVE SHERNEE A. TAN

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION PROGRAM IN STATE
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN THE AUTONOMOUS REGION IN
MUSLIM MINDANAO (ARMM)

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives
of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “ARMM Free
College Education Act of 2016.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the
State to establish free college education to all qualified beneficiaries in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in order to afford them the
opportunity to be productive members of society and eventually contribute to
nation-building

SEC. 3. Definitions. - For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall
mean)

a) Free College Education - means that the qualified beneficiaries
enrolled in any college degree course or program offered by any state
colleges and universities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) shall be free from payment of tuition and other
school fees

b) Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao — refers to the
geographical area consisting of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao
del Sur, Sulu, Tawi-tawi and Basilan;

c) Qualified Beneficiaries — refers to all high school graduates, who are
bonafide residents of the ARMM, regardless of ethnic origin or religious
affiliation or belief;

d) Tuition Fee — refers to the fee representing direct costs of instruction,

training and other related activities and for the students’ use of the
instruction and training facilities:


e) Other school fees ~ refers to the fees which cover other necessary
costs supportive of instruction, including but not limited to medical and
dental, athletic and laboratory fees.

SEC. 4. Implementation of Free College Education Program. ~ The
free college education program as provided under this Act shall commence in the
next school year following the approval of this Act. The qualified beneficiaries
enrolled in any course offerings in state colleges and universities in the ARMM
shall be free from payment of tuition and other school fees: Provided, That
nothing in this Act shall cause or authorize the reduction or removal of any
benefit which the national or local government may have granted to the students
prior to the enactment of this Act

SEC. 5. Limitation. - The right of any student to avail of free college
education shall terminate if he or she fails in the majority of the academic
subjects for the school year in which he or she is enrolled during the course of
his or her study.

SEC. 6. Place of Study. - The qualified beneficiary shall take his or her
free education in any state college and university of his or her choice in the
municipality, city or province where he or she resides within the ARMM.

SEC. 7. Mandatory Admission. - \t shall be mandatory for the state
colleges and universities to admit a qualified beneficiary, who desires to avail of
the free college education program. Any rejection of a qualified beneficiary shall
constitute a ground for dismissal of the school authorities concerned

SEC. 8. Duration of the Free College Education Program. — The free
college education program shall be implemented for a period of twenty (20) years
from the effectivity of this Act

SEC. 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations, — The Commission on
Higher Education (CHED), in consultation with the association of state colleges
and universities, shall issue the necessary rules and regulations to implement
this Act

SEC. 10..Appropriations. — The amount necessary to implement this Act
shall be charged against the money in the National Treasury not otherwise
appropriated

The President is hereby authorized to realign or transfer any item of
appropriation within the CHED and/or utilize any savings therein to carry out the
purposes of this Act. Such sums as maybe necessary for its continuous
implementation shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act

SEC. 11. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days its
publication in the Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general circulation

Approved,