Press Release
February 27, 2013

Legarda's Target for Education: One College Grad in Every Poor Family

Reelectionist Senator Loren Legarda (Nationalist People's Coalition) has proposed the granting of college scholarships to at least one member of each of the 3.8 million households that are beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program.

Legarda explained that giving college scholarships to at least one member of each of the CCT household beneficiary would have lasting impact on the lives of the country's poorest families and will also benefit the nation's productivity and growth.

"Mas mararamdaman ng bawat isang mahirap na pamilya ang programa ng gobyerno kung isa sa kanilang anak ay makapagtapos sa kolehiyo dahil matutulungan ng isang nagtapos ang kanyang pamilya, lalo ang kanyang nakababatang kapatid, pag siya ay may permanenteng trabaho na," Legarda said.

The Senator said it would not be a big dent on the government's education budget if college scholarships are given to the poorest of the poor since SUCs are already in place and have their regular annual appropriations from the national government.

"Not only will this help bring down poverty incidence, which is the goal of the government's CCT program, but it will also expand the number of people who are employable and open up opportunities for the youth in the informal sector," she added. One out of eight Filipinos aged 6 to 24 is an out-of-school youth (OSY), according to the 2010 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey.

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