HOUSE Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” A. Marcos today joined national and campus leaders at Andaya Hall for the Affirmation of Compliance and Commitment to Settle the Free Higher Education Deficiency, calling the gathering proof that government is honoring its pledge to State Universities and Colleges across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The program marked a symbolic turnover affirming the settlement of validated Free Higher Education funding shortfalls incurred by State Universities and Colleges in Academic Years 2022–2023, 2023–2024, and 2024–2025 under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
Out of the total Php 9.75 billion allotment, Php 6.6 billion has already been processed and is ready for release. Today’s ceremony marks the fulfillment of the commitment to State Universities and Colleges for Free Higher Education, benefiting 81 of 104 State Universities and Colleges nationwide across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
“Today is more than a symbolic turnover. Today the government is keeping its word,” Majority Leader Marcos said.
He credited President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and the Administration for keeping education at the center of national priorities. He also thanked Speaker Faustino “Bojie” G. Dy III, Appropriations Committee Chairperson Mikaela Angela B. Suansing, Higher and Technical Education Committee Chairperson Jude Acidre, Acting DBM Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon, CHED Chairperson and UniFAST Board Chairperson Dr. Shirley C. Agrupis, House colleagues, and partners in CHED and UniFAST for working together to fulfill the commitment.
The House Majority Leader said the occasion should remind the government of a basic duty: honor obligations already made, and make only those future commitments it is determined to keep.
He assured presidents of State Universities and Colleges that there are no small schools and big schools when every institution carries big dreams—whether it serves thousands of students in major cities or a smaller community in the farthest province. He called for a fair and equitable distribution of resources so that no school, and no Filipino student, is left behind.
State Universities and Colleges, he said, are not merely recipients of government funds. They are partners in nation-building.
Every classroom supported, every teacher empowered, and every student who graduates brings the country closer to the future it wants. An educated nation, he added, is a nation prepared for development. Investing in education does not merely fund schools—it funds dreams, creates opportunities, and builds the country’s future.
As long as there is a Filipino who wants to learn, he said, the government must never stop finding ways to help them succeed.
Also present were House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III, CHED Chairperson Dr. Shirley C. Agrupis, Senior Deputy Speaker Ferdinand “Dinand” Fernandez and House Appropriations Committee Chairperson Mikaela Suansing
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