In a bid to ease the public’s financial woes, Quezon City authorities asked school administrators on Friday to grant a one-year moratorium in the payment of tuition fees to students severely affected by the recent storms.

Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista said it will be very frustrating for millions of students in the city to be deprived of a quality education and better future just because their families are unable to pay the standard school fees due to “unfavorable circumstances.’’

While understanding the predicament of school authorities, Bautista said now is the appropriate moment to show compassion to the less fortunate and deprived members of the society at this time of crisis.

“Hayaan muna silang makapasok pa rin sa eskwela, makakuha ng exam, makagamit ng mga laboratoryo kahit hindi pa bayad ng buo sa kanilang tuition. Ito ang higit na kailangan ng mga nasalanta ni ‘Ondoy’ na siyang magbibigay kahit konting pag-asa sa kanila,’’ Bautista said.

In some colleges and universities in Northern Luzon, school administrators have offered 30 percent discounts on tuition fees to their students whose families where impoverished by the storm.

However, Bautista said despite the huge tuition fee rollback, the families whose properties were decimated by the typhoon still are unable to send their children to school due to their financial woes.

He said the distressed families are currently more focused on re-building their damaged homes and finding other options to meet their daily needs, making education the tail end of their present priorities.

“Siyempre mas uunahin na ng mga pamilya ngayon ang bumili ng pagkain kaysa magbayad ng tuition. Kaya nga para hindi naman masakripisyo ang pag-aaral ng ating estudyanteng nasalanta ni ‘Ondoy’ ay payagan na makapasok sa eskwela kahit hindi pa makabayad ng tuition,’’ Bautista said.