Defunding higher education developmentThe House of Representatives recently passed, on second reading, a bill to abolish the travel tax paid by departing passengers. CHED Commissioner Shirley Agrupis said that removing the travel tax would significantly reduce the Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF), which she says supports scholarships, research, institutional development and tourism education programs, benefiting 5.4 million students across 1,906 higher education institutions. The need to secure continuing funding for higher education was heavily debated during discussions on the Higher Education Act of 1994 (RA 7722). Higher education has historically been neglected and underfunded by the national government, which prioritized basic education. In what universe are all these covered under the “strengthening of higher education in the entire country” provision of RA 7722?

Source: Philippine Star March 27, 2026 16:36 UTC