Press Release
October 19, 2008

Angara endorses 'text-for-change' bill

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon has found a strong ally in Senator Edgardo J. Angara who has endorsed the "text-for-change" bill as "one of the best ideas ever put forward" in rescuing the educational and health care services among the more than 43,000 public schools nationwide from their pitiful state.

Gordon made the statement as he thanked Angara for his unequivocal support to the immediate passage of Senate Bill 2402, the Health and Education Acceleration Program (HEAP), which proposes to rehabilitate the educational and health care systems of the country by requiring telecommunication companies (telcos) to remit a portion of their net earnings from local text messaging to fund the program.

"Like the many other individuals and groups who have expressed support to HEAP, I thank Senator Angara for showing interest and support to this measure. I am grateful that he has seen the great advantage our country would gain once this bill is passed into law," he said.

Angara is a former President of the University of the Philippines and has sponsored many laws on education reform, including the Free High School Act and the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education.

He noted the 'text-for-change' bill is one of the best ideas ever put forward because it is a rescue plan for the youth and the country's educational system that requires no burden on the backs of the taxpayers.

Angara stressed that though the plan requires a little bit of sacrifice for a specific period of time on the part of telcos, it is one of the "most practicable and doable" things that can be done for the country to move forward.

"In a way, this is really a rescue plan for our youth in the same manner that there is a rescue plan for the world's financial industry. I think it is more urgent because it is closer to home to rescue, to bailout our youth because the deterioration of our educational standards is not only ongoing but it is so rapid and accelerated as well," he said.

Gordon said he anticipates more support from his colleagues in the Senate that would eventually lead to the passage of the bill, including those who may have initial reservations.

"I believe that the noble cause of the bill and the justifiable way in which we would implement it would be agreeable to other senators. Presented with a deplorable system of education and given an opportunity to improve it through our friends in the telcos, I believe my colleagues would accept this proposal," he said.

The HEAP bill would require telcos to remit a portion of their income from the two billion text messages sent daily, to fund backlogs in education and health infrastructures.

Current figures on the existing backlogs in education infrastructures are: 9,754 classrooms at the cost of P7.31 billion; 4,121,009 school seats at P4.12 billion; 63,178,377 textbooks at P4.21 billion; 39,762 teachers at P5.28 billion and an additional P79 million for their training; and 8,499 principals at P1.66 billion.

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