Senator Bam Aquino vowed Friday to push for funding to support 3.5- million beneficiaries of the Libreng Kolehiyo Law across public and private learning institutions in the 2026 national budget.

Aquino said he plans to ensure continued support for the students currently benefiting from the law and to advocate for an increase in that number.

“We will push for more scholarships, and for the 3.5 million students that get support from the government, we will do our best to add more scholars,” Aquino said.

Currently, about 2.2-million students are enrolled in state and local universities and colleges under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. An additional 1.3 million students in private institutions receive support through the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) and the Tulong Dunong Program (TDP) under the same law.

During a budget deliberation of the Senate Committee on Finance, Aquino also called on the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to release a clear schedule of scholarships and target beneficiary numbers for the coming years.

This is intended to allow the Senate to effectively monitor the law’s implementation and allocate the necessary funds.

“The good thing about TES is that we look at how many beneficiaries we want to reach so that we are guided not only by budget allocation but also by the actual number of beneficiaries,” he said.

Aquino urged CHEd to simplify the guidelines for the TES and TDP to accommodate more underprivileged students enrolled in private and public institutions, arguing that even those slightly above the poverty line still require financial help.

The senator also called on CHEd to finalize and submit updated guidelines for the TES and TDP before the plenary debates on the commission’s proposed 2026 budget. He stressed that stricter and clearer implementation rules are needed to ensure that funding is effectively and fairly distributed to students who truly deserve them.