Sen. Lito Lapid filed a measure that seeks to give qualified Filipino students long-term personal loans to help them access quality education.
Senator Lito Lapid filed Senate Bill No. 274 which aims to create a long-termCollege Living Expenses Financing (CLEF) Program to support college students with good academic standing. This is to give college students a long-term personal loan for living expenses
The measure directs the national government to set up a loan guarantee fund for student loans to be provided by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), the Inquirer reported.
While Lapid recognizes the benefits of free tuition and exemption on other fees of the Republic Act No. 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, he said that there are still many obstacles that college students must face to make quality education accessible for all, and one of those obstacles is the cost of living and other education-related expenses like transportation and food expenses.
“Mas ramdam pa lalo ang problemang ito ng mga estudyanteng galing sa malalayong lugar at kailangan pang magbyahe at lumipat para makapag-aral. Kailangan na mabigyan sila ng pagkakataon na magkaroon ng pagkukunan ng pondo para sa kanilang tirahan, libro at iba pang gastusin habang nag-aaral sila,” Lapid said in a statement on Friday.
With that, Lapid stated on his bill that CLEF Program will be a long-term personal loan program that is designed to provide for the living expenses of Filipino College students. The loan will cover the following expenses:
•board and lodging
•living allowance
•transportation costs
•food expenses
•uniforms and personal clothing
•books and supplies
•internet and digital connectivity expenses
•other miscellaneous expense
CLEF would be available to Filipinos who are enrolled in courses leading to a bachelor’s degree at any institution of higher education that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has approved. Each qualified student will be entitled to a maximum loan of P50,000 per semester and a maximum of P400,000 up until the five years of college enrollment.
The loan will have a maximum term of 25 years to pay with an interest rate lower than the prevailing interest rate subject to the discretion of the disbursing financial institutions.
Amortization would start one year from the date of graduation or the end of the last semester of enrollment.
The administration of the CLEF Program will be a shared responsibility with CHED which shall process and endorse the loan application requirements of qualified students and the disbursing financial institutions which will release the amounts based on the approved disbursement program agreed with the student.
“Karapatan ng bawat Pilipino ang mabigyan ng pagkakataon sa de-kalidad na edukasyon at karapatan din ng bawat estudyante na makatanggap ng lahat ng tulong na kayang ibigay ng gobyerno,” Lito said.
Tags: #Education, #Loan, #CHED