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MF REPRESENTATIVES

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Republic of the Philippines RECEIED
HOUSE OF REPRESENTA; IVES, 11 AU

Quezon City re

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SEVENTEENTH (17) CONGRESS BY: wll

First Regular Session

{STRATION UNIT

HOUSE BILLNO. __ 28 @ Bais a7 vbr x SERVIC?

Introduced by: HON. DELPHNE GAN LEE and HON. ORESTES T. SALON

EXPLANATORY NOTE,
‘The Constitution, Article XIII, Section 5, provides:

Section 5. The State shall recognize the right of farmers,
farmworkers, and landowners, as well as cooperatives, and other independent
farmers' organizations to participate in the planning, organization, and
management of the program, and shall provide support to agriculture
through appropriate technology and research, and adequate financial,
production, marketing, and other support services.

‘The Constitution, Article XIV, Section 1, provides:

Section 1. The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens
to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make
such education accessible to all.

Agriculture as an area of study has not received the support that it deserves. While some
private and public sectors provide scholarships to some students (University of the Philippines
S Scholarship, Department of Agriculture Scholarship, IRRI Landbank Gawad Patnubay
Scholarship), these may not last for the long term and may not reach as much students as they
should,

There is then a need to institutionalize the grant of scholarships to deserving students
who want to study agriculture or aquaculture. This will encourage college students to pursue a
career that will help promote and strengthen the agricultural sector in our country.

a

HON. ORESTES T. SALON
RepKentativ&/ AGRI Party-List Representative, AGRI Party-List



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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH (17) CONGRESS.
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No, 2863

Introduced by: HON. DELPHINE GAN LEE and HON. ORESTES T. SALON

AN ACT TO CREATE AN AGRICULTURE SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the
“Agriculture Scholarship Act of 2016.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - Agriculture and Aquaculture are
essential for national development and progress. The State shall give
priority to research and development, education, and innovation in these
areas of study.

In line with the above, it is hereby declared the policy of the State
to promote the development of the country’s agriculture and aquaculture
manpower in line with economic development and to provide the
capability required in the areas of research, development, innovation, as
well as their utilization. It is thus important that the State provide for
quality graduates of Agriculture and Aquaculture courses.

Therefore, the State shall provide for scholarships to deserving
students to enable them to pursue higher education or training in areas of
agriculture and aquaculture.

SEC. 3. Eligibility.—This Act envisions a fast tracking of more
agriculture and aquaculture graduates by offering scholarships to
deserving students in these courses in their first year of undergraduate
study, based on their competitiveness and merit. The following are
qualifications for the scholarship:


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(a) The applicant must be a Filipino citizen;

(b) Bea regular first (1%) year college student at the time of the
award which shall be granted after the first semester of the
first year in the course;

(c) Be currently enrolled in any of the state universities or
colleges, under any of the identified agriculture or aquaculture
courses;

(d) Have a general weighted average (GWA) of at least 80% in
their first semester of their first year;

(e) Qualify in the Junior-Level Agri Scholarship Examination; and

(f) | Must be of good moral character;

(g) Must maintain a GWA of at least 82% throughout the duration
of his course.

SEC. 4. Award of Scholarship. — Recipients shall be entitled to an
annual award for full time study which shall include tuition and other
school fees, outright grant for prescribed textbooks and essential school
supplies, transportation expenses and monthly living allowance: Provided,
however, That in the granting of financial assistance, the availability of
funds, purchasing power of the peso and rate of financial assistance given
under other government scholarship programs must be considered.

SEC. 5. Duration. - Recipients shall be entitled to an award for
their entire stay in college after the grant of the initial scholarship amount
while matriculating in an approved program.

SEC. 6. Approved Courses and Priority Programs. - Recipients
shall pursue degrees in agriculture and aquaculture as identified and
approved by the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and the
Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education.

SEC. 7. Terms and Conditions. - Applicants for the scholarships
must execute a service contract in which they shall agree to work for the
Philippine government in the next four (4) years after their graduation
and in a Philippine-based corporation within eight (8) years after their
graduation. Failure to comply with the terms of the service contract will
result in the full repayment of all awarded amounts within a specified time
limit.

SEC. 8. Implementing Agencies. - The Department of Agriculture
(DA) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) shall be the main
implementing Agencies of the provisions of this Act. The DA shall be


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responsible for evaluation, award-giving, and monitoring of scholarship
grants and awardees.

SEC. 9. Review and Monitoring. - The DA and the CHED shall
report to the President and Congress after the first three (3) years, and
annually thereafter, on the implementation of the provisions of this Act
and submit recommendations for its improvement.

SEC. 10. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within sixty
(60) days from approval of this Act, the DA and the CHED shall
promulgate the rules and regulations to effectively implement the
provisions of this Act.

SEC. 11. Appropriations Clause. - An initial amount of Two
Hundred Million Pesos (P200,000,000.00) annually is hereby appropriated
for the scholarship to be sourced from the earnings of the Philippine
Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and the Philippine Charity
Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) equally for the duration of the
implementation.

SEC. 12. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof, is
held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision
not otherwise affected shall remain valid and subsisting.

SEC. 13. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders,
proclamations, and administrative regulations or parts thereof
inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 14. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen
(15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette and at least two (2)
newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,