DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Amidst fear on where to get the much needed fund to implement the free education for students enrolled in  the state colleges and universities  come 2018, House Finance chair Karlo Alexie Nograles messaged President Rodrigo Duterte “Mr. President huwag kang mag-alala hahanapan namin ng paraan para mapondohan ang free  education.”
(Mr. President, don;t worry we will find means to fund the free education).
Nograles assured students  and parents not to  worry the upcoming implementation come 2018 as  the House and other government agencies  can source fund P18-billion for a start.
The implementation of the law needs P20-billion budget for a start, of which P18-billion fund has been identified.
Asked if the government can fund the required budget for the free education, Nograles,  told  newsline.ph “Yes!”
Nograles, who hails from Davao’s  first legislative  district said  “When we approved it, we knew we can source out fund for the purpose, we had a meeting Wednesday with the Commission and Higher Education (CHED)  and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) we are confident we can find a budget for that.”
The government, according to Nograles will “Source out funds from unspent government projects, under-utilized projects and to tap funds from existing scholarship and financial assistance programs of various departments, including Department of Social Services and Development (DSWD), CHED, Dept. of Science and technology (DOSTI, and the Department of Agriculture.”
During the meeting, government agencies in charge of fund generation agreed that they can find a budget.
As of now, Nograles said they are formulating the  Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for the Free Tuition Law which will be out  in the next 15 days.
Under  the law, all students enrolled or who wished to enroll in state-run universities and colleges nationwide will no longer have to pay for their tuition and other standard miscellaneous fees.
Under the law, students enrolled in 112 State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), 16 local government created universities evaluated by CHED, and all state-run technical-vocational institutions nationwide will be covered by the measure during the first year of implementation.-Editha Z. Caduaya/Newsline.ph
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