HOUSE °F REPRESENTATI VES

Republic of the Phili

pines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE} RECEIVED
Quezon City 3.0 JUN 2016
DATE: ° 0

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS me. Pa

First Regular Session
By:

House Bill No. 578

REGISTRATION UNIT |
BILLS AND INDEX SERVICE
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Introduced by REP. JOSE T. PANGANIBAN, JR.
of ANAC-IP Partylist

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Article XIV Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution provides “(T)he 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”. Section 2, thereof provides
“(T)he State Shall...... (3) Establish And Maintain A System Of Scholarship Grants, Student
Loan Programs, Subsidies, And other Incentives Which Shall Be Available To Deserving
Students In Both Public And Private Schools, Especially To The Underprivileged”.

The indigenous peoples is undeniably the most marginalized and underprivileged
sector of the Philippine society today. Members of ICCs/IPs, especially the youth, are often
denied quality education because of financial incapacity. ‘Thus, a significant number, almost
75%, of members of ICCs/IPs are illiterate.

This measure seeks to ensure that the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples
(NCIP) is provided for an annual appropriation to fund a national scholarship program for the
members of ICCs/Ps, both in public and private institutions. It also mandates State
Universities and Colleges (SUCs) to grant scholarship program and slot to members of
ICCs/Ps.

In view of the foregoing, the urgent passage of this Bill is earnestly sought.

JOSE T. PANGA*IBAN, JR., CPA, Lib
five, ANAC-IP Partylist


Republic of the Philippi
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 578

Introduced by REP. JOSE T. PANGANIBAN, JR.
of ANAC-IP Partylist

AN ACT
PROVIDING A NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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

Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “IP National Scholarship
Program Act of 2016”.

Section 2. Establishment/Creation. - There shall be established/created a national
scholarship program for all members of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous
Peoples (ICCs/IPs). The scholarship program shall be under the direct supervision of the
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

Section 3. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act, the following terms shall mean
the following:

(@) Commission - refers to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples

(NCIP);

(b) Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/Ps) as
provided under Section 3 (h) of Chapter II of RA No. 8371, otherwise known as, the
Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997, refer to a group of people or homogenous societies
identified by self-ascription and ascription by others, who have continuously lived as an
organized community on communally bounded and defined territory, and who have, under
claims of ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed and utilized such territories,
sharing common bonds of language, customs, traditions, and other distinctive cultural traits,
or who have, through resistance to political, social, and cultural inroads of colonization, non-
indigenous religions and cultures, became historically differentiated from the majority of
Filipinos. ICCs/IPs shall likewise include peoples who are regarded as indigenous on account

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of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, at the time of conquest or
colonization, or at the time of inroads of non-indigenous religions and cultures, or the
establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of their own social,
economic, cultural and political institutions, but who may have been displaced from their
traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral domains;

(©) Private colleges/universities — refer to educational institutions in the
Philippines maintained and administered by private individuals or corporations;

(4) School Fees ~ shall include tuition fees, miscellaneous fees, and monthly
stipend and/or allowances;

(©) SUCs — refer to State Universities and Colleges.

Section 3, Duty of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) —
Within six (6) months from the enactment of this Act, the Commission, in consultation with
the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is mandated to promulgate rules and
regulations for a national scholarship program for all members of ICCs/IPs in both public and
private colleges/universities,

Section 4. Mandatory Scholarships in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) —
State Universities and Colleges are mandated to grant scholarship slots to members of
ICCs/IPs equivalent to five (5%) of its total student population. SUCs shall promulgate the
necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the scholarship program
in consultation with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

Section 5. Coverage — The scholarship program shall cover the necessary and
appropriate school fees of the students.

Section 6. Appropriations — The amount of Five Hundred Million Pesos
(Php.500,000.000.00) shall be initially appropriated to the office of the NCIP for the
Commission’s IP National Scholarship Program and shall be charged against the savings in
the General Appropriations Act (GAA) in the year of its implementation. Thereafter, such
sums as may be necessary shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act. This
appropriation may be increased in subsequent years if necessary.

Section 7. Effectivity — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,