Educational Cash Assistance | House Bill (HB) No. 4523 | One Family, One Graduate (Read full details)

Good News! Educational Financial Assistance for Filipino families.

A bill in the House of Representatives has been introduced to offer Filipino households with a P60,000-per-academic-year subsidy in order for them to have at least one college graduate.

House Bill (HB) No. 4523 or the “One Family, One Graduate” bill was the 100th bill filed by Quezon City 5th District Rep. Patrick Michael “PM” Vargas to provide financial assistance to the poorest of the poor in the country.

“On our 100th day as District Representative, we reaffirm our commitment to combating poverty and capacitating every Filipino family to be able to live with better opportunities,” the lawmaker said.

The measure aims to empower Filipino families by providing education support worth P60,000 per academic year at the most or P30,000 per semester for eligible scholars.

In a statement from Vargas’ office, it said that the amount would cover “the cost of tuition and other school fees, academic and extra-curricular expenses, textbook allowance, board and loading, transportation, clothing, medical needs, and other valid related education expenses and support services to complete the student-grantee’s degree program.”

The lawmaker said the bill would ensure that no one gets left behind on the country’s road to economic recovery.

“We must exert more efforts necessary to invest in our people, enabling them to fulfill their aspirations and break free from poverty through a support system that aims to provide at least one college graduate per family,” Vargas stated.

“We have already filed more than a hundred bills aimed at providing jobs, health care, education, and other basic social services to ensure that we leave no Filipino family behind on the road to the country’s economic recovery under the Marcos administration,” he added.

HB 4523 establishes an expanded Student Grants-in-Program for Poverty (ESGP-PA) which shall be exclusively granted to poor but deserving students belonging to indigent households, prioritizing beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has reported that the program supports more than 800,000 families, classified as poor and near-poor based on the Standardized Targeting System and the poverty threshold issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The “One Family, One Graduate” bill was initially filed in the 18th Congress by Vargas’ brother, then Quezon City 5th District Rep. Alfred Vargas.

Source: Manila Bulletin.