It is back-to-school season once again.

When we think about education, our attention often turns to college and university students. Perhaps understandably so. In just a few years, many of them will be entering the nation’s productive force. They will become teachers, engineers, entrepreneurs, health professionals, civil servants, tradespeople and leaders of their communities. From among them, some will one day be leaders of the Republic.

Yet they represent something more than enrollment statistics. In a country like the Philippines, seeing a child through tertiary education remains a significant aspiration for many families.

Public basic education has long served as a great equalizer. Every year, we expect to see large numbers of young Filipinos complete their elementary and secondary education. Yet as students approach tertiary education, the numbers begin to thin. For generations, college has represented both an opportunity and a sacrifice for families determined to secure a better future for their children.

I am reminded of a piece of advice from one of my philosophy professors, Maxwell Felicilda. As we prepared to leave the university and enter the larger world, he told us: “Strive not to be just a statistic. Be productive and be part of nation-building.” His advice still resonates.

Education is not merely about credentials. At its best, it prepares people for productivity: to create, contribute, innovate, serve, and leave their communities better than they found them.

If education is one of the principal means by which a nation develops its productive force, then expanding access to tertiary education becomes more than an education issue. It becomes a nation-building issue.

It is perhaps this aspiration that gave rise to one of the most consequential education reforms in recent Philippine history: Republic Act 10931, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

Among those most closely associated with the measure is Senator Bam Aquino, now returned to public office. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Education during the bill’s passage, he served as its principal sponsor, defending its provisions in plenary, responding to interpellations, shepherding amendments and guiding the measure through the legislative process until it became law.

Like most landmark legislation, the measure benefited from the efforts of other legislators and stakeholders, as well as the approval of then President Rodrigo Duterte.  Yet Senator Aquino’s stewardship placed him at the forefront of an effort to make tertiary education more accessible to young Filipinos.

From time to time, discussions arise over who deserves credit for laws of this magnitude. Such debates may miss the larger point. Major legislation is rarely the work of a single individual. It is the product of institutions performing their constitutional roles and of public servants finding enough common ground to advance a shared objective.

For families whose children were able to pursue higher education because their opportunities expanded, the impact of this law is neither abstract nor forgotten.

Perhaps the law also provides a useful lens through which to view Senator Aquino’s return to public office. Not because a public servant should be defined by a single accomplishment, but because meaningful reforms offer citizens a basis for deciding whether a leader deserves a second look, continued confidence and closer scrutiny in the years ahead.

Past accomplishments deserve recognition. Future accomplishments must still be earned. By that measure, Senator Bam Aquino’s return to public office may deserve a second look.

More importantly, so too do the policies, reforms, and investments that will shape the next generation of Filipinos preparing to join the nation’s productive force. 

For every student returning to school this year, the promise of education remains the same: not merely to earn a diploma, but to become productive citizens and active participants in the continuing work of nation-building.