A lady solon, one of the principal authors of the newly-passed No Permit, No Exam Prohibition Act, is hoping that no more students will be able to skip their final examinations because of unpaid tuition fees after the establishment of the new law.
San Pedro City Rep. Ann Matibag of Laguna’s first district said she doesn’t want the students to experience what her husband Atty. Melvin Matibag had encountered before when he did not take his exam due to unpaid tuition fee.
“My husband had experienced to be singled out and embarrassed in the middle of his class because he did not take his exam due to unpaid tuition fee. I don’t want students to experience the same fate as my husband, thus I am very much thankful that this law has already passed,” Matibag said.
“I hope no one will suffer the same experience again.”
The passage of Republic Act 11984, according to the 40-year-old lawmaker, would allow financially disadvantaged students from taking exams even without a permit, while also balancing out the needs of schools and colleges across the country.
As part of her advocacies as LaguNanay of the province of Laguna, she also assured that the bill was not diluted in any form and would give ample protection to students who cannot not pay on time.
Republic Act 11984, called the “No Permit, No Exam Prohibition Act” was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last March 11, 2024.
“We laud President Marcos for signing RA 11984, of which I have proposed. The signing of the law is the culmination of my campaign that would give every student a fair chance of studying and take their exams even if they have outstanding fees in their school,” Matibag said.
Matibag said the law has enough safeguards and provisions that would not only help poor students, but also the schools.
“We really believe the safeguards included in the current law are fair enough for both students and school administrators. We are trying to balance out the needs of both parties as we do not want both students and the administrators to be at the losing end of this bill,” she said.
“We pursue this law because we want to protect the welfare of the students and the schools.”