THE Senate approves the unification of government scholarship programs for the tertiary education to make this more accessible to poor but deserving students. Senate Bill 2679 states that these scholarships will be given at national and local funding. This will be managed by the Commission on Higher Education (Ched). This law was sponsored by Senator Angara. The top three graduates of all public schools in the country will automatically qualify. They are called "Iskolarng Bayan."
Why did I list this as number one? An educated society is basic to a progressive country. Incidentally, I heard about this unfortunate news. The orphans of Fallen 44 were promised scholarships as aids but until now they had not received anything. This is the downside of this first item. All promulgations must be done as promised in deeds and not just in words. This must be checked by the concerned government agency.
SSS incentives up by 75%. A total of 37,612'qualified Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW s) with active accounts under the SSS Flexi-fund Program received higher additional income on their savings. Total annual incentive disbursements for 2014 amounted to P12.68-million. All OFWs must apply for membership to enjoy the privilege. We cannot deny the fact that OFWs' disbursements yearly to the Philippine government is in great amounts. The government's goal of ending the exporting of human labor may not materialize unless life supporting employments are available here at home. So many successful OFWs who managed their earnings wisely and honestly had built their homes here for their families and started a business here when they choose to go home.
NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) gave a P500 million grant for the development of Mindanao. This is mainly for conflict- affected areas in the region. NEDA is working with JICA (Japan International Cooperative Agency. It will give 1.117 billion yens, almost equivalent to P 500 million to facilitate the the rehabilitation and constuction of farm- to -market roads in different areas of Mindanao. This will be a great help to farmers who will earn more from their harvests.
This will eliminate the payments for middle-men who demand amounts from the helpless farmers. The program will be implemented by the Department of Agriculture. The giver of the grants hopes that this will contribute to peace and development programs in Mindanao. The downside again here is when managing agencies will employ corrupt practices along the way. There must be strict COA accounting for every peso spent in the implementation of the project.
A long range funding agency allotting P625 billion intends to complete the interconnectivity projects. This will be done through a well-planned step ladder program of activities. This includes a railway system, road planning and zoning, port development and rehabilitation needs.
The top officials of Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa) mapped out the planned schedules of tasks to be accomplished. The next two years will need 250'billion for roads and ports. The group considers construction demands of what they call Mindanao Development Corridors. These are the Northern, Western, South-Central. The first is to be a world class industrial and services center. The second will be the country's gateway to Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia. The last will be food basket of the country. A Germany- based group will study the Mindanao Rail way System.
All of these gigantic plans should consider lessons learned from our failed experiences because of lack of foresight of the whole undertaking under different circumstances. Finger-pointing, transfer of blame, corruption in adherence to responsibility - all these are unforeseen at the planning table. The victims of all these mishaps are the commuters and the harm done to them. Our present MRT and LRT are a nightmare daily seen in Metro Manila. When everyone thought there was a final solution to look for a pleasant ride away from the traffic of the main roads there was nothing but frustration. The road zoning is another as well as the durability and road width to serve the growing population are all unsolved.
The environment advocate in me felt that I have to comment on this news headline - Trees downtown are neglected. The study focused on six areas in the city including People's Park, Dacudao Avenue, Buhangin- Bajada Flyover, Magsaysay Park, Rizal, Quezon Centennial, and Osmena Parks.
There is a national law which penalizes the unauthorized cutting and destruction of trees anywhere within the city. There is the pending decision on the removal of trees at Dacudao's Park. The Interface Development Interventions Inc. (Idis) conserves and protects the city urban biodiversity and Cenro are alarmed about the neglect of the trees. They cool the atmosphere, exude oxygen which we need to maintain our lives. Trees also exude carbon dioxide which are detrimental for us but needed by green plants to produce the basic food, carbohydrates. One local ordinance should be passed to manage our urban greeneries. Maintaining trees is nature's bonanza to keep us alive. For comments text cp. no. 09202112534.