The country's largest associations of private schools lauded the House of Representatives for the timely approval on third and final reading of a bill that aims to avert the collapse of many learning institutions in the face of a looming substantial increase in taxes.
"We wish to convey our sincere appreciation to Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and the leadership of the House of Representatives for facilitating the prompt approval on third and final reading of House Bill 9913," the private school associations said in a joint statement.
Signatories in the statement include the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA), Davao Colleges and Universities Network (DACUN), Association of Private, State Colleges, and Universities in Region XI (APSCUR XI), Bicol Association of Private Colleges and Universities (BAPCU) and CESAFI Association of Cebu Private Schools.
"This is a big step towards finally realizing the enactment of the bill into a law as the deliberation shifts to the Senate," COCOPEA chairman Dr. Anthony Jose M. Tamayo said.
House Bill No. 9913 seeks to clarify that the preferential tax rate of 10 percent imposed on proprietary educational institutions will be reduced to 1 percent from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023, after which the tax rate shall be set to 10 percent under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE).
The chamber approved the bill with 203 votes, with no objections or abstentions.
The measure will then be transmitted to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means chaired by Senator Pia Cayetano.
Tamayo, who is also the president of Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU), said the legislative policy intervention, once enacted into law, would provide the needed stability to education not only in this time of pandemic but also for generations to come, as it aligns with all existing and future initiatives to revive the battered economy.
Enrollment in private schools, Tamayo said, has drastically dropped amid the pandemic.
"As of today, there are only 118,000 enrollees in the private basic education schools, out of 2 million students last academic year SY 2020-2021, based on DepEd’s partial data. It may be recalled that prior to the pandemic in SY 2019-2020, the enrolment in the private basic education schools was at 4.3 million students," he said.
Tamayo said the latest enrolment data emphasized how the pandemic affected the viability of private educational institutions and the urgency of a policy intervention from the government.
"With the few remaining days in the legislative calendar and the number of urgent measures lined up in Congress, we are racing against time to have the law enacted in this 18th Congress," he said.
"We further hope for the prompt action of the Senate on the measure as declared by Sen. Pia Cayetano, the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee as it now shifts the legislative process from the lower House to the Senate," he said.
COCOPEA and other private school associations expressed hope that the Senate bill would be enacted into law before the new school year starts in August and September, "so that our schools can fully focus on dealing with the learning crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic that our country is currently grappling with."