MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has approved a bill aimed at expanding access to free tertiary education. House Bill No. 8476 hurdled third and final reading with 257 lawmakers voting in favor of its passage during Monday’s plenary session. “This measure is meant to make sure qualified students from the poorest households can actually reach tertiary education,” House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos said in a statement. The bill seeks to reform the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) program by creating a voucher system for beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) who want to study in private schools. Under the measure, students from households under the 4Ps will be automatically prioritized and included in the TES once they qualify for admission to higher education institutions recognized by the Commission on Higher Education. “The rationale is straightforward: If a student already belongs to a household officially recognized by the government as among the poorest in the country, then that student should not have to struggle through additional layers of verification simply to receive support for education,” Tingog Rep. Jude Acidre, chairman of the House Committee on Technical and Higher Education, said during the plenary.