Angara hopeful gov’t scholar measure will get Congress nod

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on education, arts and culture, is optimistic that the bill on Iskolar ng Bayan will get the final nod of Congress once it resumes session on June 28.

Angara has defended the measure that mandates all state universities and colleges (SUCs) to confer automatic admission and provide scholarship grants to the top 10 public high school graduates annually and allocates appropriate funds.

Senators Francis Escudero, Pia Cayetano, Sergio Osmeña III, Grace Poe, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Ramon Bong Revilla Jr, Cynthia Villar, Nancy Binay, Aquilino Pimentel III, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Jinggoy Estrada, Vicente Sotto III, Juan Ponce Enrile and Angara signed the committee report.

Under the measure, the scholar shall be entitled to automatic admission in the SUC of his or her choice within his or her province, subject to the evaluation or admission criteria of each school with respect to the course that the scholar wants to take.

The Commission on Higher Education is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the Iskolars ng Bayan are accommodated in an SUC within their provinces, or in an SUC in another province should there be limited slots or course offerings in their own province.

SUCs that are recognized as centers of excellence in their regions shall allocate more slots for the Iskolar ng Bayan program, and within Metro Manila, the Iskolar ng Bayan can apply without cost to at most three SUCs.

The measure covers all SUCs, except the University of the Philippines because it has institutional autonomy as the national university under Republic Act 9500 or the UP Charter of 2008, provided that UP shall come up with its own scholarship programs for the top 10 students from public high schools.

The scholarship grants are provided in the form of free tuition and other school fees to the Iskolar ng Bayan in all SUCs; reasonable textbook allowance per academic year as may be determined by CHED; and reasonable monthly living allowance based on the cost of living as determined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).