POSITION PAPER

Students of De La Salle University-Manila

Senate Bill No. 1430

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A LOAN STUDENT PROGRAM BY BANKS AND

GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, PROVIDING INCENTIVES THEREFOR
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Senate Bill No. 2169

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A LOAN STUDENT PROGRAM BY PRIVATE BANKS,

PROVIDING INCENTIVES THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Greetings in St. La Salle!

First of all, we, students of De La Salle University, and concerned citizens of our country,
would like to thank Senator JV Ejercito and Senator Angara for raising these two bills in the
Senate. Truly, we appreciate your good and kind intention to help the Filipino youth to attain
their right, which is actually quality education.

However, sadly, we see that the two senate bills are not the true primary solutions we
need or we may even see as helpful to solve the problem in our education system. These two
Senate Bills are just band aid solutions, perceived as convenient mean. In addition, it seems that
these two senate bills will touch the few of the few only, even though it may be defended hat
these two can be seen as alternatives that maybe taken by the few who are capable. These are the
following grounds for our commentary to the said bills:

1) Isn’t this bill just touching the surface of the problems we are facing right now in
terms of education? Every year, we discover an increasing rate of college dropouts
and out of school youth, and one of the reasons we may cite it is the high price our
youth has to pay just to attain education. And one of the reasons why we face an
increase of this price is because of repeated budget cuts and deregulation schemes
implemented by our government. So, will these two bills really pull the grassroots
from the soil? Let us remember, though these bills may cause some slight decrease to
the number of college dropouts and out of school youth, we are still facing the fact
that there are still a huge number of youth remaining who are still incapable and
limited to enter their universities. We have to face the reality that not all parents here
in the Philippines do actually have SSS or GSIS. We have to face the fact that these
bills will not, even though may attract, fully be available to all. As statistics presented
in the explanatory note prepared by Sen. Ejercito, majority of the parents of college
dropouts and out of school youth do not even touch the lower-upper class stratum,
leading us to conclusion that these bills will be not for everybody.
POSITION PAPER
Students of De La Salle University-Manila

2) It is stated in the Philippine Constitution that the government is obliged to provide

means for Filipino youth to attain quality and accessible education. Are these bills
just passing the government’s responsibility in giving accessible and quality
education to private institutions? Yes, these bills are actually the initiative of the
government itself to help the youth attain their right. However, the government
should be the prime player. The government should be the one providing the ways,
not the government relying on the ways or means. These bills somehow prove the
incapability of the government in making sure that its citizens get their right.
3) Instead of giving incentives to participating financial institutions, why don’t we just
channel it to social services such as education? It is truly a black area. The
government is actively doing budget cuts to education without even providing any
explanation, but it doesn’t even hesitate to give incentives to financial institutions just
simply because they have the means to help the Filipino youth where it should have
been the responsibility of it at the first place.

In conclusion, we do not strongly disagree for these bills to be passed. However, we see it
as shallow, prejudiced, and mere band aid solution to the problem. We would appreciate
it more if only the government can provide more capital outlay to education. Our stand,
the Senate and the House should push for pro-student National Budget Plan 2014
Revision.

Prepared by

Ezekiel Jacob Carinan

Rise for Education, Rise for Education Alliance Leading Convenor for Manila Chapter