Guess who’s laughing all the way to the bank at the expense of poor college students?
The answer is: We don’t know yet.
But the Senate may soon find out, if Resolution 128, calling for a probe into the implementation of the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST), starts rolling.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros is leading the charge in uncovering what the Commission on Audit has flagged as “questionable releases” under the program. The alleged irregularities involve the release of close to P7 billion in funds earmarked for the government’s student assistance program.
The lawmaker said her office has been swamped with testimonies from college students who were supposed recipients of UniFAST, an attached agency under the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) mandated to implement Republic Act 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
Signed into law in October 2015, RA 10931 seeks to provide underprivileged Filipino students the opportunity to pursue college degrees through free tuition and exemption from other fees in state universities and colleges (SUCs) through a faster, unified, and more comprehensive system.
But apparently the law is not working in favor of its intended beneficiaries.
The COA report said UniFAST had P3.4 billion worth of “delayed and non-submissions of billings and documents” to SUCs and local universities and colleges for a period of 20 to 44 months.
UniFAST also posted some P1 billion in “unimplemented and unreverted funds” for the student loan program (SLP), and another P1 billion in “delayed release of financial benefits.”
“The [SLP] remained unimplemented as of Dec. 31, 2021, or more than four years since the enactment of RA 10931 [and is] largely attributable to the defect in the tripartite memorandum of agreement between the CHEd, UniFAST Board and the Development Bank of the Philippines, particularly the absence of a loan repayment mechanism,” the COA report said.
According to Hontiveros, those deprived of funding assistance included students who have health issues, those with solo parents, and those with parents who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
Also among them were students whose parents are farmers and fisherfolk and indigent families under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.
CHEd Chair Prospero de Vera III said his office takes Hontiveros’ allegations “seriously” and that he was ready to meet with the senator and clarify her concerns.
He added that the “questionable releases” have been answered by CHEd-UniFAST in its reply to the COA report.
We really hope that the Senate investigation will ferret out the truth as many students coming from the marginalized and disadvantaged sectors desperately need financial assistance to continue and finish their studies for them to secure a better future for them and their families.
