FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 847 
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INTRODUCED BY SEN. JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Special schools and private educational institutions, both primary and 
secondary in which children of wealthy families study undeniably provide the best 
quality of education available in the country. 
I n fact, statistics shows that graduates of these institutions normally meet 
the admission requirements imposed by respected universities, obtain their 
undergraduate degrees with honors and end up as successful career individuals, 
Further, and perhaps more importantly, these children, given the wide 
range of academic and non-academic opportunities given them, are more 
secure, healthy and confident individuals than their counterparts from ordinary 
public schools or institutions of academic learning, 
There is a need to provide exceptionally brilliant or gifted students from 
poor families the same educational opportunities, which children from wealthier 
families have. Albeit special schools already offer existing scholarship programs 
to indigent students, these are usually sporadic and not institutionalized. 
The proposed measure seeks to provide educational opportunities for 
disadvantaged children by giving them the same choices among all elementary 
and secondary schools and other academic programs availed of by those of well-
to-do families. Hopefully, this measure will enable these children end up as more 
productive and critical individuals than what they would have normally become 
under the present educational set up, 
Immediate approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
Senator 


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 847 
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INTRODUCED BY SEN. JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA 
AN ACT 
TO PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISADVANTAGED 
CHILDREN, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
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 "Excellence 
Through Choice to Elevate Learning Act'. 
SEC. 2. Purposes. - The purposes of this Act are to: 
(a) give children from low-income families the same choices among all 
elementary and secondary schools and other academic programs as 
children from wealthier families already have; 
(b) improve schools and other academic programs by giving parents in 
low-income families increased consumer power to choose the schools 
and programs that the parents determine best fit the needs of their 
children; and 
(c) more fully engage parents in their children's schooling; and, 
(d) gives parents in low-income families a choice among public, private 
and religious schools for their children and access to the same 
academic options as parents in wealthy families have for their children. 
SEC. 3. Program Authority. - The Department of Education, hereinafter 
referred to as "Department" shall carry out educational choice programs that 
provide scholarships in accordance with this Act to five (5) deserving stUdents 
from poor families per region of the country, to any private elementary or high 
school chosen by such students or their parents; Provided, That such students 
shall meet the requirements for admission in said school or institution. 


For purposes of this Act, the term "poor families" means families whose 
aggregate income per year is not more than One Hundred Thousand Pesos 
(P100,OOO.00). 
SEC. 4. Scholarship.-
(1) In General -
(a) Scholarship 
Awards 
-
the 
Department 
shall 
provide 
scholarships to the parents of eligible children, in accordance 
with subsection, (b). 
The Department shall ensure that the 
scholarships may be redeemed for elementary or secondary 
education for the children at any of a broad variety of public and 
private schools, including religious schools in the country. 
(b) Scholarship Amount - the amount of each scholarship shall not 
be 
less than 
P50,OOO.00 
or equivalent to 
expenditure 
requirements set forth in a school of choice per year. Each 
selected stUdent shall also be entitled to a stipend of P1,OOO.00 
per month. 
(c) Tax Exemption - Scholarships awarded under this Act shall not 
be considered income of the parents for income tax purposes or 
for determining eligibility for any other program. 
(2) Eligible Children - to be eligible to receive a scholarship under this Act 
a child shall be selected from a list of aspirants recommehded or 
endorsed by the school where such child is currently enrolled in. The 
Department shall come up with selection standards or criteria which 
include, among others', series of examinations and interviews. 
SEC. 5. 
Continuing Eligibility. -
The Department shall provide a 
scholarship in each year of the program to each child who received a scholarship 
during the previous year of the program, unless: 
(a) the child no longer attends school; 
(b) the child's family income exceeds by 50% or more; or 
(c) the child is expelled for failure to meet the educational 
requirements imposed by the school or institution or convicted 
of a felony, including felonious drug possession of a weapon on 
school grounds, or a violent act against another student or a 
member of the school'S faculty. 
SEC. 6. Uses of Funds. - Any scholarship awarded under this Act for a 
year shall be used for: 
(1) 
the payment of tuition and fees at the school selected by the 
parents of the child for whom the scholarship was provided; 
(2) 
the reasonable costs of the child's transportation to the school, 
if the school is not the school to which the child would be 
assigned in the absence of a program under this Act; and 
(3) 
for educational programs that helps the eligible child achieve 
high levels of academic excellence in the school attended by 
the eligible child, if the eligible child chooses to attend a public 
school. 


SEC. 7. 
Funding Requirements. - There shall be authorized to be 
appropriated from resources allocated to the Department such sums as may be 
necessary to implement the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 8. Separability Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation 
contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, 
modified, or amended accordingly. 
SEC. 9. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
executive order, letter of instruCtion, administrative order, rule or regulation 
contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, 
modified or amended accordingly 
SEC. 10. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved,