SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian said high school graduates from Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) households may soon be granted automatic eligibility for the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES), a move that would fast-track college support for the country’s poorest students.

Senate Bill No. 1894, which seeks to amend the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, or the free higher education law, has reached the Senate plenary for deliberation.

Aside from making 4Ps high school graduates automatically eligible for TES, the proposed measure also seeks to strengthen monitoring and quality assurance in the program’s implementation to ensure that grants are received by qualified beneficiaries.

The measure aligns with a special provision Gatchalian proposed in the 2024 and 2025 national budgets, which aims to address the declining share of beneficiaries from poor households.

Both the 2024 and 2025 national budgets carried Gatchalian’s proposal to prioritize students from 4Ps households as TES beneficiaries.

“Habang pinatitibay natin ang libreng kolehiyo, titiyakin nating prayoridad ang mga tunay na nangangailangang estudyante bilang mga benepisyaryo ng TES. Dapat masigurong tuloy-tuloy ang edukasyon nila,” said Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance.