February 29, 2023

HON. FERDINAND "BONGBONG” ROMUALDEZ MARCOS JR.

President
Republic of the Philippines

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT

FERDINAND MARCOS JR FOR RLE FEE
ALLEVIATION
Dear President Marcos Jr,

Greetings of Peace and Solidarity!

We know how busy you are as the President of our beloved country, the Philippines, so if
you are reading this right now, thank you Mr. President for taking time to acknowledge this
letter.
The province of Cavite is known for its rich history and a large number of national heroes.
Aside from that, Cavite has its premier university known to be, the Cavite State University
(CvSU). Having that said, the Central Student Government (CSG) of CvSU – Don Severino
De Las alas Campus, as the highest governing body, would like to represent and amplify
every student’s voice inside the university and addressed their concerns fairly and
compassionately.

With this, the CSG is writing to you this letter regarding Related Learning Experience
(RLE) fees, paid by our Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students every semester. As
the Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the Republic Act (RA) No. 10931 last
August 2017, otherwise known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act,
students who are enrolled in State Universities and Colleges, Local Universities and
Colleges, and State-Run Technical-Vocational Institutions, will be so called the “Iskolar ng
Bayan”, as they will have the opportunity to access quality tertiary education regardless of
the program they wanted to pursue with free tuition and other school fees.

In contrary, with this RA 10931 scholarship, RLE fee is not covered by the said law as it was
not regarded as miscellaneous, tuition, or other school fees which the republic act covers.
Thus, students from BS Nursing program from approximately 70 Public State Universities
and Colleges in the Philippines, including CvSU, are greatly affected. Having the fact that,
most colleges in different universities cater to hundreds to thousands of students and let
alone, CvSU - Don Severino Delas Alas campus has 23, 000 enrolled students this semester
with almost 2000 enrolled students from the College of Nursing.

The RLE fee is a practicum component of the BS Nursing Curriculum, which is competency-
based oriented. This includes all activities in clinical areas undertaken to complement and/or
supplement the practical learning experience of BS Nursing students. Proportional
percentage of this RLE fee is allocated for RLE remuneration, given to RLE faculty as a
reward for the inconveniences of additional work beyond the ordinary or established scope
of their teaching profession.

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Open Letter for RLE Fee Alleviation
RA 10931 was passed to strengthen the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for
Tertiary Education as stated in the title of the Law. However, the Bachelor of Science in
Nursing program offered to most of the State Universities in our country, was the only
program in tertiary level that has this RLE fee. The RLE fee paid by every student per
semester ranges from P3, 825 to P52, 160 depending on the number of units they took in a
semester. The RLE fee may be paid by the student in full or on instalment which shall be
collected as per the following terms: Before Preliminary examination and/or Before Midterm
examination. If the students failed to pay their per semester RLE fee, they won’t be allowed
to enroll for the next semester. This is indeed a burden for our aspiring nurses, whom we
believed to be the engine room of our health system, and with a tiring and tight schedule; are
required to respond to the health needs of individuals in our community, in the country, and
in the world.

As the CSG of CvSU, Indang, Cavite continuous to seek for a solution regarding this matter,
the CSG found out that the Local Government Unit of Pasig sponsors the RLE fees of the
nursing students in their locality. The CSG has also done their benchmarking with other state
universities including Bulacan State University, Bicol University, and Batangas State
University and as we share the same range of RLE fees paid by our constituents, these state
universities are only the few of many more universities who experiences the same problem.
The CSG, with the CALABARZON Regional Development Plan 2023-2028, Public
Consultation last January, also raised this RLE Fee concern aligned in the quality education
plan for Region IV – A.

The CSG also had their consultation with the Mayor of the Municipality of Indang, Cavite,
Mayor Perfecto Fidel about the said issue. Mayor Fidel said, that due to the funding situation
of Indang, the municipality cannot do anything to help alleviate RLE fees. With all the talk,
the CSG would like to ask for assistance from your good office for the possible
comprehensive review of the RLE fees and its inclusion in RA 10931 or the Universal
Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. The Central Student Government believes that this
is a national problem that needs to be addressed immediately with legislative review and
intervention.

We are hoping for your support and kind consideration with this matter. If you have any
questions or concerns, kindly contact us at csg.main@cvsu.edu.ph at your earliest
convenience. God Bless and Thank you so much, Mr. President!

For the Kabsuhenyos,

CLARK JAICEL M. DE MESA JOHN RICK M. DE LEON

0968 697 5915 0949 806 6534
Senator for Academic Affairs President
Central Student Government Central Student Government

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Open Letter for RLE Fee Alleviation