Tulfo asks why he had to give P19,000 to an aspiring Tesda scholar

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Erwin Tulfo on Tuesday questioned why he had to personally give P19,000 to a woman seeking to enroll in a caregiving course as she wanted to avail herself of Tesda training.

According to the senator, despite thinking that Tesda training should be free, he resorted to giving the woman money as she refused to leave without the financial assistance she asked for.

Tulfo raised the issue during the Senate Committee on Finance’s subcommittee hearing on Tesda’s proposed 2027 budget, as he questioned why scholars still have to pay training centers despite government-funded scholarship programs.

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“Bakit po ’yung mga scholar kailangan magbabayad pa rin sa mga training centers?” he asked in the hearing.

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(Why do scholars still have to pay the training centers?)

There, he cited the case of a woman who approached his office because she wanted to take up caregiving training before seeking work abroad.

“Kasi caregiving po, gusto niya mag-abroad na. Waitress po siya, gusto niya mag-abroad. Pinagbayad po siya ng P19,000,” Tulfo said during the hearing.

(She wanted to go abroad as a caregiver. She was a waitress, and she wanted to go abroad. She was charged P19,000.)

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“Ayaw umalis sa opisina ko hanggang di ko nabibigyan ng P19,000. Binigyan ko na lamang po,” he added.

(She wouldn’t leave my office until I gave her the P19,000, so I just gave it to her.)

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Tulfo earlier asked Tesda Director Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez whether Emperor International Training and Assessment Center received support from the agency.

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Benitez said Tesda would verify whether the training center was receiving government assistance.

Tulfo said he believed the center was registered with Tesda, then asked whether the woman should have been charged for her training.

“Dapat Tesda ’yan, dapat libre. Tama po ba?” Tulfo asked.

(That should be Tesda, it should be free, is this correct?)

Benitez said, “Ideally, sir, if he is in a PTI or in a public TESDA institution, then yes, dapat po libre siya (it should be free),” Benitez said.

Tulfo then questioned where Tesda’s scholarship funds were going if students were still being asked to pay for their training.

He said the incident raised concerns over how many other Filipinos seeking jobs abroad may have had to pay for training despite potentially being eligible for Tesda assistance.

“Eh mabuti, dumaan sa opisina ko ito. How many more people like these are going overseas becoming caregivers pero hindi naman po nagbayad sila for their training?” Tulfo said.

(It’s a good thing she came to my office. How many more people like her are going abroad to work as caregivers without paying for their training?)

The senator’s questions came as Tesda faced scrutiny over its fund utilization and proposed budget for 2027.

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Tesda had originally sought nearly P39 billion for next year but was allocated around P20.8 billion to P20.9 billion under the National Expenditure Program, compared with its P26.34-billion budget under the 2026 General Appropriations Act.

Tulfo also questioned the agency’s utilization rate and cited P3.6 billion in uncorrected accounting errors and omissions flagged by the Commission on Audit.

COA, for its part, said validation of Tesda actions on the audit recommendations was still ongoing.

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Later in the hearing, Benitez also said that the agency’s budget is “insufficient” given the demands on Tesda scholarships, as they are able to only cater 35 percent to 40 percent yearly of those wanting to avail of the program. /cb