A politician for over 15 years, Valenzuela Representative, Sherwin Gatchalian filed his intent as senator for the upcoming 2016 elections last October 2015.
He is currently a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, the 2nd biggest party in the country. Gatchalian, fondly called Kuya Win, is running on a platform of quality education.
He visited Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental last month and held a casual convo with the press and bloggers at Boy Zugba in Corrales Avenue for Northern Mindanao to know more on his platforms.
Gatchalian stressed out during the gathering that he fully supports K-12 and Free Education. He also added that it is necessary for global competitiveness.
He also shared a proposal making the college entrance exam and not the final grades as the regulator once the Free Education is materialized. When asked for a projection on the budget, he confidently answered Php 15B on the tuition fee.
When asked on the topic that Bukidnon State University using DepEd’s facilities, he then added that the free education focuses on the tuition alone. Facilities or infrastructure will be another topic to be discussed.
One statement from Win Gatchalian that struck me was this, “We have to keep investing on quality.” Though K-12 is in place, having a college education still has more advantages and flexibility and will compliment that TechVoc which is skills-based.
Congressman Win has filed a total of 54 measures that focus on quality education, urban development, and economic justice. Gatchalian authored about 20 house bills like Bill of Rights of Taxi Passengers, Cameras for Crime Prevention Act of 2014, SIM Card Registration Act and Servando Act among others. Among others, he also co-authored several key legislation including Voter’s Education Act of 2013, Magna Carta for the Poor and Philippine Fair Competition Act of 2013.