De Vera said that the free higher education subsidy was started by the Duterte Administration thru the Republic Act 10931, also known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, signed into law in August 2017.  This provides underprivileged Filipino students the opportunity to pursue college degrees through free tuition and exemption of other fees in state universities and colleges.
 
Thru the RA 10931, the President fulfilled his promise of assisting young Filipinos complete their studies, and said program produced its first graduates
this year.

“I felt that this year is proper that we claim victory for free higher education because it is this year where the first batch of students who stopped paying tuition and miscellaneous fees are graduating,” De Vera stated.
 
He noted that the program not only improved the education of students but it also uplifted their lives.
 
“Tinanggal natin iyong number one reason for dropouts which is tuition fees because it is already free in more than 200 state colleges and universities nationwide. The number two reason is the educational needs on a day to day basis aysinagot na yan ng TES, because the TES is given to students to buy gadgets, load, for food and other needs,” he added.
 
The Chairperson stressed that the TES provided not only free education but also better lives among the Filipino youth particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
“The Tertiary Education Subsidy sa panahon ng pandemya is a direct assistance from  the government, parang napaka malaking ayuda yan dahil yan ang bumuhay sa napakaraming pamilyang Pilipino noong panahon ng pandemya,” he said adding that the 500,000 TES beneficiaries mean that 500,000 families were sustained during the worst time of the pandemic.
 
De Vera thanked Baguio City Congressman Mark Go, chairperson of  the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education,  who worked tirelessly for the bill to be passed to benefit more Filipinos  thru free education.
 
“When the law was passed in 2017, members of the Congress including Cong. Mark Go re-aligned P8 Billion of unapproppriated funds and gave to CHED so that students of the 112 state universities and colleges stop paying tuition fees starting in 2017, he added.(JDP/RMC-PIA CAR)