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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA and IAN PAUL CORDERO
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Wednesday, May 31, 2017
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ILOILO City – Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) offices were flooded with parents and college students seeking tax exemption certification – one of the requirements for the government’s free tuition program.
At Revenue District Office (RDO) 74 in this city, a BIR officer who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter said the deluge of parents and students beginning Friday last week caught them by surprise.
In a day, they could entertain a little over a hundred students or parents only, according to the officer.
They did not have enough personnel to attend to all these clients in just one day, the officer explained.
P8-B SUPPORT FUND
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) jointly issued the implementing guidelines for the use of the P8-billion Higher Education Support Fund (HESF) under the government’s free tuition program for 2017.
The HESF is intended for use by state universities and colleges (SUCs) for academic year 2017-2018. President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the conditional implementation of the free tuition program “to give priority to financially disadvantaged but academically able students.”
According to the joint memorandum, the free tuition program will cover “all Filipino students enrolling in undergraduate course programs in SUCs for the academic year 2017-2018, subject to the prioritization directive of the President and the availability of funds in the HESF.”
SUCs will not collect tuition from students and will instead charge this against the HESF through billing statements for CHED. However, miscellaneous and other fees are not covered by the program, and thus may still be collected from the students.
MAD RUSH
Yesterday, most of the students seeking tax exemption certification from BIR Revenue District Office 74 were from the West Visayas State University (WVSU). It was the last day of submission of the certification; the university’s enrolment schedule is today.
“Even our utility personnel were helping us,” the BIR officer told Panay News. “We’re trying our best to release the certifications quickly pero kon indi masarangan, ti anhon ta na abi,” she said.
The queue of students and parents was also long at BIR RDO 75 in Zarraga, Iloilo.
The BIR officer said they were cognizant of the enrollment period and deadlines set by universities and colleges for the submission of tax exemption certifications.
Diana Frances Sevillo, a WVSU student, said they were informed about the tax exemption certification requirement only Wednesday last week.
“Kabudlay para ka namon asta tulad. Kabilugan gid ang ma-process…gulpyada kag insigida,” said Sevillo.
To secure a tax exemption certification, a student’s parents must present to the BIR a notarized joint affidavit and certificate of no real property, among others.
CHED-DBM GUIDELINES
Under the CHED-DBM guidelines, beneficiaries of government student financial assistance programs (StuFAPs) will be given priority by their respective SUCs.
The tuition fees of those receiving more than P15,000 in benefits will still be charged against their StuFAP allocations, while the tuition fees of student beneficiaries who are getting P15,000 or less will be charged from the SUCs’ free tuition allocation.
After all government StuFAP beneficiaries have been given slots, continuing students in their respective SUCs are next in line for available slots. They will be further prioritized according to the following order, subject to the availability of funding:
1. graduating students with one semester remaining, regardless of household per capita income
2. graduating students with one academic year remaining, regardless of household per capita income
3. non-graduating students who belong to a household that is or was a beneficiary of 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program);
4. non-graduating students who were never part of a household that is or was a beneficiary of 4Ps but is still included in the Listahanan 2.0, ranked according to their estimated per capita household income; and
5. non-graduating students ranked according to their per capita household income based on submitted documentation(s) for proof of income.
If there are still funds available, incoming freshmen and returning students who are not receiving more than P15,000 in benefits from any StuFAP will also be eligible for the government’s free tuition program in a similar order.
SUCs BUDGET
The budget allocation for each SUC is based on the estimated tuition income they submitted for the 2017 Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing.
The SUCs are required to conduct an assessment on the eligibility of students based on the 4Ps, Listahanan 2.0, and StuFAP beneficiaries.
Before the enrolment period, the SUCs should have ranked all assessed students according to the order of priority as stated above./PN
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