REPUBLIC ACT NO. 577 - AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS TWO AND THREE OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED SIXTY-FIVE

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section two of Republic Act Numbered Sixty-five is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. Officers and enlisted men in good standing of the Philippine Army and of any recognized or deserving guerrilla organizations who took active participation in the resistance movement and/or in the liberation drive against the enemy who desire to study, or one child of a veteran in whose favor he renounces such right, shall, upon certification of the Chairman of the Philippine Veterans Board be admitted to any school, college, university or institute authorized by the Government, free from all school fees, including tuition, matriculation, athletic, library, laboratory, medical, ROTC, diploma, and graduation fees: Provided, however, That the length within which a veteran may enjoy this benefit shall be determined by the length of his war time service between the period of December eight, nineteen hundred and forty-one to December second, nineteen hundred and forty-five, plus one school year but in no case less than two school years: Provided, further, That a school year shall mean four quarters or two semesters and one summer: Provided, further, That if after utilizing this period the veteran has not yet finished the course he is taking, the board may in its discretion allow him to finish his course depending on his scholastic standing: Provided, further, That the veteran is considered not to be using the number of school year he is entitled to if he is enrolled only in the elementary grades or in the high school: Provided, further, That the educational benefit may be utilized for review courses such as the pre-bar and the CPA reviews: Provided, further, That the board may in its discretion and for plausible reasons authorize the veteran to change the course which he has originally applied or which he is actually taking: Provided, further, That no private school, college, or institute can be compelled to accept any number which exceeds twenty-five per centum of its entire enrolment." SEC. 2. Section three of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 3. The benefits of the next preceding section shall be available only to those who signify their desire to study to the Chairman of the Philippine Veterans Board not later than July thirty-one, nineteen hundred and fifty-one."

SEC. 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, September 12, 1950.