If bill becomes law: At least 4T Cebu youth to get college degree

CEBU, Philippines - An estimated 4,190 students in Cebu and 8,010 in Central Visayas are sure of enrolling in college if the "Iskolar ng Bayan" bill is made into law, Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said.

Senate Bill No. 2275 or the Iskolar ng Bayan bill, proposes that the government mandates all state universities and colleges to give automatic admission and scholarship grants to the top 10 public high school students of each graduating class. 

The bill has been approved on third reading by the Senate and has recently hurdled the appropriations committee in the House of Representatives.

 Under the measure, state universities and colleges are expected to grant free tuition and other school fees to the Iskolar ng Bayan.

"Let us set aside all talks of politics and focus our efforts on Filipinos families and how to address their day-to-day problems like how to provide quality education for their children," Cayetano said in statement.

According to data from the Department of Education, 419 of the total 7,913 public high schools operating for school year 2013-2014 are located in Cebu and have roughly 4,190 students. This means, Cayetano said, that if this number of students gets the chance to proceed to college, the same number of families will have chance at a better future.

 "Let us show them that they are still our number one priority by approving measures like the Iskolar ng Bayan bill, measures that will directly address the Filipinos' daily problems," the senator added.

Cayetano said the enactment of this measure becomes particularly important now that the Priority Development Assistance Fund has been abolished by Congress, leaving some 400,000 scholars on their own to fend for their schooling.

In a separate development, Cateyano and Prince Warehouse launched the "Tindahang Royalty Incentive Awards" in Cebu.

The said award is an incentive project that will grant financial awards to exemplary micro-entrepreneurs in the province in the hope of highlighting the significant role of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in the country's continuous economic development.

"The sari-sari store is a Filipino icon that demonstrates the ingenuity and industry of our people. It is time that we promote it as a means of creating livelihood and employment opportunities in order to diminish the poverty levels in our country," the senator said in a separate statement.

The primary objective of the project is to provide incentives in the form of recognition and financial rewards to the best performing sari-sari store enterprises among Prince Warehouse Club members in order to promote the practice of entrepreneurship and goodwill among small business owners.

It also aims to establish a mechanism that will determine the best practices in entrepreneurial skills and management to continuously inspire MSMEs to nurture their businesses.  (FREEMAN)