With Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV poised to make a Senate comeback based on his unexpected high ranking in the May 12 midterm elections, VERA Files Fact Check noticed a barrage of posts online questioning the role he played in the enactment of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
The posts— which started spreading when initial unofficial vote tallies showed Aquino placing second to reelectionist Sen. Bong Go— exhibit possible coordinated inauthentic behavior. These posts carry a resounding narrative: former president Rodrigo Duterte deserves credit for signing the proposed law.
How did the free college tuition law come to be? Here are two things you need to know:
Who are the people behind the passage of the bill into law?
R.A. No. 10931 became law on Aug. 3, 2017 when then president Duterte signed the enrolled bill from Congress. It provides for free tuition and other school fees to all students in state and local universities and colleges (SUCs and LUCs), as well as those in technical and vocational institutions under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Similar bills were filed both in the Senate and the House of Representatives from 2016 to 2017. When the consolidated bills were separately approved by both chambers, the House version – which subsidizes both tuition and other school fees – became the working draft in the bicameral conference. The Senate counterpart provided only for tuition subsidy.
Aquino was among the 12 senators who authored the final Senate bill. He submitted a bill co-authored with Sen. Risa Hontiveros upon the opening of the 17th Congress on June 30, 2016. However, then-Senate president pro tempore Ralph Recto and then-majority leader Joel Villanueva were the first to file jointly a similar bill on the same date, making them the principal authors. It was actually a re-filed bill from the 16th Congress.
Aquino was an author and principal sponsor as then-chairman of the Senate Committee on Education responsible for shepherding the bill until it became law. He has never claimed to be its principal author.
Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.