House panel OKs bill granting free meals, health care, housing in SUCs

The Kabataan Partylist applauded the approval at the committee level of House Bill No. 212, or the “Delivery of Adequate and Accessible Services in the Universities (DASURV) Bill,” during the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education hearing.

The bill aims to help students in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) gain access to essential services — including food, health care, and shelter — which proponents say students “dasurv” (deserve).

House Assistant Minority Leader and Kabataan Partylist Representative Atty. Renee Co said the committee approval “is a huge step in the right direction” toward ensuring students have access to free and quality education.

Under the measure, SUC students and academic and non-academic personnel will be entitled to free school health services (Section 4). Students will also receive free breakfast, lunch, and dinner (Section 5), in addition to access to quality and affordable food services (Section 6).

Section 7 of the bill mandates access to housing facilities such as residence halls, dormitories, and buildings for qualified students, faculty, and non-academic personnel who are financially disadvantaged.

“A hungry student cannot learn. A sick student cannot study. A homeless student cannot concentrate. Education necessarily includes food, health, and housing. The DASURV Bill is not a luxury but a necessity—fulfilling our constitutional mandate for genuine accessible education,” Rep. Co emphasized.

She noted that many students survive on one meal a day, sleep in precarious conditions, or forego medical treatment — circumstances she said underscore the urgency of passing the bill.

“Beyond cash assistance, the youth need an educational system with a comprehensive framework that ensures services are provided, not something that needs to be bought,” Rep. Co said.

“The youth are watching—students surviving on one meal daily, sleeping in uncertain conditions, foregoing medical treatment. They demand the immediate legislation of this measure,” she added.

Once enacted, the necessary funding shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act and managed by SUCs in coordination with the Commission on Higher Education.

“Youth is the future of our nation. They should be our number one investment. The funds of the country should go in delivering quality education for them, not to corruption. What Filipino youth ‘DASURV’ (deserve) is truly free, quality, and within-reach education,” Co said in a mix of English and Filipino.