FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
Second Regular Session 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
SEN 
S. No. 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article XIV, Section 1 provides that: 
SEC. 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. 
In Section 2 paragraph 3 of the same article, the Constitution further mandates that: 
SEC. 2. The 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; 
In a recent letter to the editor published by the Inquirer entitled "UP Closed to the 
Brightest of Poor"', Mr. Noli Reyes highlighted the financial problems besetting our students in 
our country's premiere State University. The poor student was not able to neither afford the 
tuition fee nor figure out how to work through the system to assist him in his education. As a 
result, he did not pursue the degree program he worked so hard to get into. Without any 
connections, the poor student was not able to avail in time any of the multitudes of scholarship 
programs available to our impoverished youth. 
By creating a centralized scholarship database online, scholarship information will be 
easily accessible to both the institutions granting the scholarship and their beneficiaries. It will 
make the application for scholarship truly competitive instead of being limited to those who have 
direct access to the information. 
' Reyes, Noli N. UP Closed to the Brightest of the Poor. Philippine Daily Inquirer. June 20,2008 


This bill seeks to democratize the access to scholarship information by making the 
information available online. This will effectively connect the sponsors to their intended 
beneficiaries and truly provide support to the less privileged but deserving students. 
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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
Second Regular Session 
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8 JUL 21 
F’2:46 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
SENATE 
S. Nd. 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
TO DIRECT THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN A 
PUBLIC WEBSITE THROUGH WHICH INDIVIDUALS MAY FIND A COMPLETE 
DATABASE OF AVAILABLE SCHOLARSHIPS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND OTHER 
PROGRAMS OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IN THE STUDY OF SCIENCE, 
TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS 
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 “National STEM Scholarship 
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Database Act.” 
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SECTION 2. Establishment of a Database. - The Secretary of Education shall establish 
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and maintain, on the public website of the Department of Education, a database consisting of 
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information on scholarships, fellowships, and other programs of financial assistance available 
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from public and private sources for the study of science, technology, engineering, or 
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mathematics at the post-secondary and post-baccalaureate levels. 
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SECTION 3. Presentation of Information. - The information maintained on the database 
established under the preceding section shall be displayed on the website in &e following 
manner: 
(A) Separate information shall be provided for each of the fields of study referred to in 
Section 2 and for post-secondary and post-baccalaureate programs of financial assistance. 
(B) The database shall provide specific information on any programs of financial 
assistance which are targeted to individuals of a particular gender, ethnicity, or other 
demographic group. 
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(C) If the sponsor of any program of financial assistance included on the database 
maintains a public website, the database shall provide hyperlinks to the website. 
@) In addition to providing the hyperlinlc to the website of a sponsor of a program of 
financial assistance as required under subparagraph (C), the database shall provide 
general information that an interested person may use to contact the sponsor, including 
the sponsor's electronic mail address. 
(E) The database shall have a search capability which permits an individual to search for 
information on the basis of each category of the information provided and on the basis of 
combinations of categories of the information provided, including whether the 
scholarship is need- or merit-based and by relevant academic majors. 
(F) The database shall include a recommendation that students and families should 
carefully review all of the application requirements prior to applying for aid, and a 
disclaimer that the scholarships presented in the database are not provided or endorsed by 
the Department of Education. 
SECTION 4. Dissemination of Information on Database. - The Secretary shall take such 
actions as may be necessary on an ongoing basis, including sending notices to secondary schools 
and institutions of higher education, to disseminate information on the database established and 
maintained under'this Act and to encourage its use by interested parties. 
SECTION 5. Use of Vendor to Obtain Information. - In carrying out this Act, the 
Secretary of Education shall enter into a contract with a private entity under which the entity 
shall fimish and regularly update all of the information required to be maintained on the 
database established under this section. 
SECTION 6. Encouraging the Provision of Injormation. - In carrying out this Act, the 
Secretary of Education and the contracted entity shall consult with public and private sowces of 
scholarships and make easily available a process for such entities to provide regular and updated 
information. 
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SECTION 7. Appropriations. - To carry out the provisions of this Act, such amount as 
hereby necessary is hereby authorized to be appropriated from the National Treasury. 
SECTION 8. 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. 
SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or is inconsistent 
with the provision of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 
SECTION 10. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
/apm062708 
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