MANILA, Philippines – Going against the advice of his economic managers, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, a law providing free tuition for students of 112 state universities and colleges (SUCs) on Friday, August 4.
The move came a few days after student leaders from different SUCs urged the President to sign the Free Education Bill before the August 5 deadline.
According to the Commission on Higher Education, there are 112 SUCs that will be benefiting from this law.
Netizens celebrated the news online, pushing the "SUCs" to the top of the trending list nationwide.
Amid the online celebration, some netizens reminded the public to stay vigilant and monitor the proper enforcement of the law.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="tl" dir="ltr">LIBRE NA TUITION FEE SA LAHAT NG SUCS PERO HINDI PARIN TAYO NAKASISIGURADO HABANG WALA PANG MALINAW NA IRR!</p>— Angela (@gelastweet) <a href="https://twitter.com/gelastweet/status/893305657616613376">August 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="tl" dir="ltr">Sana hindi na panandaliang kasiyahan ang free tuition!</p>— Carly (@carlifreeta) <a href="https://twitter.com/carlifreeta/status/893303182041821184">August 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="tl" dir="ltr">Free tuition na sa SUCs pero di pa sa UP, kaya dapat na tayong lahat kumilos at ipamudmod sa admin na 'gurl bigay niyo na rights namin'</p>— jed #LiftMartialLaw (@jedmarcueto) <a href="https://twitter.com/jedmarcueto/status/893295737672392704">August 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Overall, the news was welcomed by students on social media.
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<a class="twitter-timeline" data-partner="tweetdeck" href="https://twitter.com/MovePH/timelines/893295486479630336">free tuition law - Curated tweets by MovePH</a> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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What are your thoughts on the signing of the law? Share your thoughts on X! – Rappler.com