SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian wants students from low-income households, including those listed under Listahanan 2.0, to be prioritized as beneficiaries of the Tertiary Education Subsidy under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or the free higher education law.

Listahanan is an information management system that identifies who and where the country’s poor are.

Gatchalian previously flagged the crowding out of students from low-income households in the pool of TES beneficiaries, which he said is not consistent with the intention of the free higher education law.

The TES provides additional funding for education-related costs, including books, transportation, board and lodging, and allowances for disability-related expenses, among others.

“We observed that for TES grantees, beneficiaries from places where there are no State Colleges and Universities or SUCs and Local Universities and Colleges or LUCs are slowly eating up the share of the Listahanan grantees. We aim to reverse this trend and stay true to the spirit of the law, wherein the Listahanan beneficiaries and low-income families will be prioritized,” said Gatchalian during his interpellation of the 2024 budget of the Commission on Higher Education.

As of the second semester of the Academic Year 2022-2023, 79 percent of TES grantees are students from areas with no SUCs and LUCs, leaving only 21 percent from Listahanan, and 0 percent from Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries.

In 2018, 68 percent of TES grantees were from Listahanan, 25 percent were from areas with no SUCs and LUCs, and 3 percent were from 4Ps beneficiaries.

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor, to improve the health, nutrition, and education of children aged 0-18.

The Senate Committee on Finance has accepted an amendment that Gatchalian proposed on Special Provision No. 3 of CHED’s proposed 2024 budget.

The amended special provision now stipulates that in the selection of new TES grantees, the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education shall prioritize students under Listahanan 2.0, and students from low-income households who are not part of Listahanan 2.0.

These students will be required to submit proof of income to UniFAST, whose board administers the TES.

Through this special provision, Gatchalian seeks to reaffirm the intention of Section 7 of the free higher education law.