THE COMMITTEE on Higher and Technical Education at the House of Representatives has started discussing a resolution calling on the government to increase scholarship and other fundings for tertiary education.

The panel headed by Baguio City Rep. Mark Go tackled House Resolution 767 authored by Senior Deputy Minority Leader Paul Ruiz Daza.

In the resolution, Daza highlighted Section 7 of Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act which urges the Commission on Higher Education and the government to provide living allowances for qualified poor students, to be subsidized by the Tertiary Educational Scholarship.

The lawmaker said that CHED receives P2 billion to P3 billion annually from the Higher Education Development Fund which should also be utilized to subsidize the student’s living allowances.

CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera III, however, said that budget realignments and cuts over the years, as well as the law’s TES priorities, impede the full implementation of RA 10931.