Friday, June 06, 2008 Arroyo gives cash subsidy to poor college students
AFTER extending subsidy for consumers of "small electric consumption" and for farmers, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is now providing a one-time education subsidy for the poor college students.
Arroyo on Thursday afternoon launched the P500 million Students' Assistance Fund for Education for a Strong Republic (Safe 4SR) program and P500 million "Iskolars ni GMA" program at the Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (Earits), which would be sourced from the P4 billion value-added tax (VAT) proceeds from January to April this year.
The President said the P1 billion, which she described as "Katas ng VAT Pantawid Edukasyon," is part of the P4 billion program identified by the Cabinet where the funds generated from the VAT charged on electricity and fuel or the first quarter of the year would be used.
The first P2 billion had been released by the government to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the "Katas ng VAT: Pantawid Kuryente" program under the conditional cash transfer program where about four million household that consume electricity of less than 100 kilowatt hour per month would receive a one-time P500 aid.
The remaining P1 billion has been proposed to cover the conversion program for public utility vehicles to have their diesel engines converted into compressed natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-enabled engines.
"We launch the second of the major components of the fruits to be made available this year by our lower than program budget deficit which shall be attribute to the VAT reforms," Arroyo said during the launching of the program.
She said the Safe 4SR would provide an P8,000 interest-free student emergency loan to college students which they could use to pay their tuition, other school fees, purchase books and other needs.
Commission on Higher Education (Ched) commissioner Nona Ricafort said the Safe program is a one-time deal, unless the administration decides to further continue the program in the future.
Ricafort said it is estimated to benefit about 60,000 to 62,500 third year, fourth year or graduating students "with assured and ready employment" from all over the country, both from state colleges and universities (SUCs) and private higher education institutions (HEIs).
She added that the program would be implemented primarily in areas with high percentage of poverty incidence, in calamity affected areas and those with many existing SUCs. She said the student loan is payable within two years after the student graduates.
Presidents of 21 SUCs and 23 private HEIs, accompanied by close to 50 student beneficiaries received checks for P300,000.
Ricafort said the P500-million scholarship program on the other hand had been divided into P300 million for students who would take up agriculture or fisheries courses and the remainder covering English, Science, and Mathematics courses.
She said they expect 8,000 to 10,000 students to benefit from the scholarship program which would cover the four-year degree of the student or provide at least P15,000 per year or a total of P60,000 package per student.
Of the 8,000 to 10,000, they expect at least 6,000 to become "agri-entrepreneur or agri-business managers, hence become self-sufficient rather than seeking employment."
Arroyo said priority for the P500 million scholarship program would be given to students from the 10 poorest provinces in the country that include Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Norte, Maguindanao, Apayao, Abra, Dinagat Island, Lanao del Sur, Northern Samar, Masbate, Mizamiz Occidental, and the food-poor provinces like Agusan del Sur, Kalinga, and Surigao del Sur.
She said the scholarship program should also cover Baguio City.
The President added that the scholarship program is open to students from poor families who are expected to pass and finish their courses even if they do not belong to the upper batch of the class.
Rice and transport subsidies
Also during the event, Arroyo ordered the Philippine National Oil Company-Development and Management Corporation (PNOC-DMC) and the Department of Budget and Management to ensure that government employees would receive additional rice and transportation subsidies, which would be sourced from savings to be generated from fuel and electricity conservation measures.
She said the additional subsidy would be a form of reward for adopting energy saving measures.
"The savings, translated into peso value, shall be given back to the personnel of the complying agencies in the form of additional rice and transportation subsidies. This will provide immediate relief from the rising prices of rice in the whole world and the adjusted transport fares," she said.
"A breakdown of the household expenditures of employees -- public or private -- shows that a sizable portion of a family's household expense goes to rice and transport fares," she added.
The President said PNOC-DMC chairman Waldo Flores and Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. would also monitor and submit a quarterly report on the compliance of the government agencies on the energy saving measures and provision of subsidies.
Arroyo reminded the government agencies, including the SUCs, to adopt fuel and electricity saving measures as mentioned under Administrative Order (AO) 228 entitled "Addressing the Rising Cost of Energy" that she issued on June 2.
The measures include the reduction of transportation fuel consumption by each government office or agency by at least 10 percent starting June; the conversion of the government-registered vehicles into LPG-enabled engines by September; and the replacement of all incandescent bulbs with florescent bars by July.
Arroyo said another measure, as mentioned in the AO, is the turning off of air conditioners in all government buildings, except those on 24-hour operations like hospitals starting 4:30 p.m. (JMR/Sunnex)
