Popoy: Diokno never liked free college

Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero "Popoy" de Vera III said heais happy the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education law, or free higher education in state universities and colleges, is being raised and discussed to further improve the program.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said free college education was an "unsustainable and anti-poor" program, and that the government should focus more on improving basic education if it really wanted to uplift the lives of the poor.

"I'm glad that he (Diokno) raised it because it can now be discussed from different angles. We already have the data, and the data tells us the things we should prioritize," De Vera told Daily Tribune in an interview.

"I am also happy because there are many things that need to be changed in the program, and there are many things that can still be improved," he added.

De Vera said that Diokno was opposed to free college education since the previous administration. "So I don't think he has changed his position. He still doesn't believe in it," he said.

From 2018 to the present, more than two million Filipino students have benefited from the free college education law, the CHEd chief said.

He noted  that free college education was just a concept when it was being discussed in the previous administration, when there was no data to back it up.

"I am confident that if we review now the free higher education, the data would point to the fact that it should be continued," he said. He stressed that the improvement should come mostly via legislation.

"I told the Congressional Committee on Education that free higher education is one of the major things that they should discuss and talk about. I think that is the best place to discuss it," De Vera said.

He said that all education stakeholders must be involved in the discussion to ensure a smooth implementation of the program and if there is still room for improvement. Diokno has also proposed a review of the free college education.

"I had, in fact, asked for a review two years ago when the EDCOM was created, and even Ben Diokno has raised this issue," De Vera said.