Around P400 million from the Commission on Education (CHED) 2021 continuing appropriations has been earmarked for a new scholarship fund that will send 12,000 students to college, Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Northern Samar 1st District Rep. Paul Daza said on Thursday, Sept. 22.
In a statement, Daza shared that former president and now Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo intervened for CHED to allocate the fund for new scholarships.
“No less than the former president and Senior Deputy Speaker, Madame Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, mediated and assisted in some discussions with Minority Leader Nonoy Libanan and CHED Chairman Popoy De Vera regarding 2021 continuing appropriations,” Daza stated during the recent interpellations of CHED’s P30.7 billion funding for 2023.
“There’s roughly P1.8 billion remaining ,” he added.
A former tax and finance legal counsel in the US, the lawmaker sifted through the commission’s audit records and financial reports where he found an opportunity to fund more indigent college scholars.
Daza thanked Arroyo, who assured that the identified funds “would be utilized this year and allocated for poor and deserving students, specifically for Listahanan.”
Listahanan is a database of poor households that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) uses to identify beneficiaries of its different social protection programs and services, which includes the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and financial aid for indigent students.
CHED confirmed to Daza the availability of P400 million from its continuing appropriations, but this will be subject to the Department of Budget Management (DBM)’s approval.
“We hope, through these additional potential funds, we no longer have to trim down our list of scholars, but instead grant the opportunity to more Filipino youth,” the lawmaker said.
“As lawmakers we must exercise due diligence to maximize all available resources, especially for something as vital as education. I know our Deputy Speaker and former President GMA shares this sentiment. Together we await the CHED in filing a request with the DBM so these funds may be allocated and utilized by our students,” he added.
During the budget deliberations for CHED, lawmakers raised concerns on the budget cuts suffered by state universities and colleges, which would also affect thousands of students that depend on the government’s free education program.