President Rodrigo Duterte has appealed to schools for possible installment payment options for students in consideration of most parents who are “hard-pressed” in finances due to the community quarantine brought about by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
“Iyong tuition ho sana (As for tuition) — I hope that you’d allow a staggered payment or installments lang po sa mga eskwelahan (in schools),” he said in a televised meeting with Cabinet officials.
He also ordered the state-run Land Bank of the Philippines (Land Bank) to provide loans to students, especially those who could not afford to pay their tuition at all.
“For those who have really nothing to come up to sa bayaran (in paying tuition), we have the Land Bank and kindly listen to rules kasi itong Land Bank bubuksan namin (because we will open Land Bank) and you can borrow money to finance the education of your children,” he said.
To ensure that the state-owned bank would comply with this, he instructed it to prepare a daily report on the loans released to beneficiaries.
“I want the development of this endeavor of the Land Bank to help. Gusto kong malaman na matutupad talaga (I want to find out if it will really be fulfilled). So maybe I will require a report every day on how it goes, how it would present itself to the public once it is available,” he said.
Prior to Duterte’s announcement, the Land Bank revealed that it has launched ACADEME or Access to Academic Development to Empower the Masses towards Endless Opportunities lending program to extend credit to private high schools, private technical-vocational education training institutions, colleges and universities in a “study now, pay later” scheme.
“Given the financial constraints brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, Land Bank is financing interventions to ensure that students will be able to enroll in school when classes finally resume. The Landbank Academe Lending Program supports the education sector in providing students greater access to quality education amid the health crisis we are all facing,” Land Bank president and CEO Cecilia Borromeo said in a statement.
A total of PHP3-billion was set aside for the lending program for students amid the pandemic which shall be available until June 30, 2021.
