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By Prince Golez, Manila Reporter
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MANILA – Underprivileged students will soon get a five percent discount when purchasing medicine and restaurant food, and paying for school fees, supplies and textbooks.
This will help ease their financial burden and deal with the rising tuition costs for higher education, said Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara in filing his Senate Bill No. (SBN) 134, or the Underprivileged Students’ Discount Act of 2016.
“Even with the system of scholarship grants and student loan programs provided by the government, not all deserving and underprivileged students get to finish their education because they lack the financial capacity to spend for their basic needs and other expenses related to their schooling,” Angara said.
Under SBN 134, the term “undeprivileged student” shall mean:
A Filipino student enrolled in basic education, post-secondary non-degree technical vocational courses, and those enrolled bachelor’s Degree Programs at the college level; and
Whose parents have a gross annual income of not more than P150,000.
Those who fail to finish their course, have stopped their schooling, and previously convicted for any crime will be denied discount, the legislation stated.
Meanwhile, the Angara bill provided for tax incentives to establishments that would grant discounts to underprivileged students. Discounts granted shall be treated as allowable deduction from the gross income in the computation of the income tax, it stated.
On the other hand, establishments that fail to grant discounts may suffer a one to four-week suspension of their license to operate and would be fined with not less than P20,000 but not more than P50,000.
“Considering that we now have a law giving discounts to senior citizens, it is high time that we consider the plight of our underprivileged students who are out nation’s future. If passed into law, this Senate bill will definetely encourage students from financially struggling families to pursue their dreams by finishing their college education or their vocational trainings,” the senator said.
Angara, former chief of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, is vice chairman of the Committee on Education./PN
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