Senator Bong Go stressed the importance of improving access to education for more Filipinos, especially the financially incapacitated ones who were hardest hit by the pandemic, as he co-sponsored Senate Bill No. 1864, otherwise known as the “Student Loan Payment Moratorium During Disasters and Emergencies Act of 2022”.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has put the Filipino youth’s mental health and well-being under immense strain. Alam n’yo, umpisa pa lang ng pandemya, marami na pong naiulat na nakaka-experience ng depression. Umpisa pa lang ng krisis, talagang maraming apektado lalo na sa mga estudyante at teachers to the point na tumataas rin ang kaso ng depression and, worse, suicide cases. Ganito po ang naging kalagayan sa COVID-19 crisis, ganito rin po ang kadalasang sitwasyon sa panahon ng kalamidad at krisis,” Go said in his co-sponsorship speech included in the records of the proposed measure.
“Hangga’t maaari bawasan na natin ang iniisip nila.”
“Makakatulong po sa ating mga kabataan at kanilang mga pamilya na mabigyan sila ng palugit sa pagbayad ng student loans. Hangga’t maaari bawasan na natin ang iniisip nila,” the legislator urged.
The proposed measure aims to protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and to ensure that such education is accessible to all.
For this reason, it shall authorize the deferral of student loan collection for a reasonable period during and after the onset of disasters and other emergencies.
As it is also designed to ease the burden of student-incurred loans, the Act will provide moratorium on the enforcement of payment of all fees, charges, and costs relating to student loan programs for Higher Education and Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
The bill states, “The imposition of student loan payment moratorium shall not prohibit students from voluntarily waiving the benefit of the moratorium on student loan payments.”
Furthermore, the proposed measure shall cover enrolled students residing in barangays, municipalities, cities, provinces, or regions under a State of Calamity or State of Emergency as may be declared by the President of the Philippines or the local sanggunian concerned.
“For the past six years, the administration of former president (Rodrigo) Duterte intensified its move to ensure that no one is left behind in access to quality education. The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act enabled a more inclusive and equitable education,” the lawmaker underscored.
“This proposed measure will provide huge relief to our students and is a step to ensure that they would be able to remain in schools and pursue education.”
“This proposed measure will provide huge relief to our students and is a step to ensure that they would be able to remain in schools and pursue education. It is for this reason that I wish to be a co-author of this measure,” the senator explained.
He likewise co-sponsored Senate Bill No. 1360 which seeks to expand the coverage of the tertiary education subsidy (TES) by amending Republic Act No. 10931, or the Universal Access To Quality Tertiary Education Act.
As it was initially available only to students enrolled in state universities and colleges, the bill expands the eligibility criteria for availing of the TES to include underprivileged and academically competent students who are enrolling in their first undergraduate post-secondary tertiary education program in private higher educational institutions (PHEIs) and technical-vocational institutions (TVIs).
Go also introduced SBN 1190 to expand the purposes and applications of the Special Education Fund (SEF), proposing its use for the operation and maintenance of public schools, payment of salaries and benefits for teaching and non-teaching personnel, competency training for teaching personnel, operation of the Alternative Learning System, and educational research, among others.
