Some 137,000 college students will receive P15,000 in cash assistance this year under the national government’s Tulong Dunong Program (TDP), Quezon City Rep. Marvin Rillo, vice chairperson of the House committee on higher and technical education, announced on Sunday.

“In the 2025 General Appropriations Law, Congress earmarked the sum of P2.06 billion for the TDP, which provides grantees with cash aid of P7,500 per semester, or P15,000 per academic year,” Rillo said in a statement.

“We are absolutely determined to keep up the annual funding for the TDP, which has helped to lessen the financial difficulties of students pursing their college education,” Rillo, a member of the House committee on appropriations, stated.

Rillo has long championed greater public access to education at all school levels.

He is the author of the 2024 law that scrapped the oppressive “no permit, no exam” policy in schools.

The law – Republic Act No. 11984 – compels all schools to allow students to take their periodic and final examinations, even if they have unpaid tuition and other fees.

The TDP is one of the government’s tertiary education subsidy programs. It aims “to support at least the partial cost of college schooling, inclusive of education-related expenses of the grantee.”

Under existing guidelines, both new and continuing grantees must be enrolled in any undergraduate program in a public or private college or university recognized by the Commission on Higher Education.

They must submit certified true copies or electronically generated certificates of enrollment. (Photo courtesy of https://www.bamaquino.com/)