ALLOWANCE HIKE. Baguio City Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan, shown in this undated photo, wants the stipend under the city's educational assistant grant for poor but deserving students to be increased to PHP10,000 from PHP6,000 per semester so they could cope with the higher cost of living and education. He said Tuesday (July 26, 2022) an additional PHP20 million would be added to the 2023 fund if his proposal gets approved. (PNA file photo)
BAGUIO CITY – Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan said Tuesday there is a need to increase the stipend of students to allow them to cope with the higher cost of living and education.
"The increase in the stipend given to the student per semester will allow beneficiaries to cope with the increasing cost of living and expenses in education," Olowan said as he pushed for a proposed measure he authored amending Ordinance 116-2019, which provides for the city government’s college education financial assistance grant program to students.
"The increase to PHP10,000 from PHP6,000 of the college education financial assistance grant to poor but deserving students will be of much help," he said.
The amendment will also provide an additional PHP20 million to the earlier fund of PHP10 million for the college education financial assistance grant program that will be included in the 2023 executive budget.
The program will then have an additional PHP5 million every year thereafter to cover for the increasing number of beneficiaries of the program.
The stipend is given every semester to the grantee who is enrolled in schools within the city, provided the student passes all the subjects.
Doy Tabilog, executive assistant at the mayor's office, said 1,000 students are currently covered by the program being implemented by the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
He said among the requirements for the scholarship is a certificate of income of the parents from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, proof of residency in Baguio, and a voter's certification of the parents or the applicant if of the voting age.
The scholarship is also available to students taking up technical-vocational courses. (PNA)
