Senate Deputy Minority Leader Joel Villanueva has filed Senate Bill No. 1604 to expand the government’s Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES), citing the need for stronger support for college students.
“It aims to ensure that assistance is directed to students who need it the most by establishing more precise and equitable prioritization guidelines that give due preference to economically disadvantaged students,” Villanueva said in the explanatory note.
The TES currently provides ₱40,000 annually for tuition, school fees, and living expenses, prioritizing low-income households. Villanueva’s proposal seeks to broaden coverage to include internship and related learning experience fees required by academic programs.
The bill also aims to extend subsidies to students in private institutions located in areas without state or local universities.
“All TES beneficiaries shall continue to receive such benefits or subsidy until the completion of their respective undergraduate, post-secondary tertiary education, or technical-vocational programs,” the measure states.
Villanueva emphasized the need for a centralized and consistent system to identify eligible beneficiaries, citing research from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.