The P500 monthly allowance or financial educational assistance to all junior and senior high school students in Parañaque City is ongoing and it will be long-term project, a ranking city hall official assured.
Covered under the “special allowance” program are students from Grade 7 to 12 of public schools within the territorial jurisdiction of Parañaque, and those listed in the Department of Education roster, City Treasurer Dr. Anthony Pulmano said.
Under the implementing rules and regulations, qualified students will receive their monthly allowance through an automated teller machine card from the Development Bank of the Philippines.
Pulmano assured parents of the qualified and deserving students the city government has allocated P240 million until June next year for 48,000 high school students.
“The city has set aside the funds for this, and this will not be touched as this is meant for the high school students. We wish to assure the parents that this is not just a campaign promise,” he pointed out.
Pulmano explained that some students did not receive their monthly allowance on time because the DBP failed to distribute enough ATMs since the program started this June. It was learned that the semi-government bank handed only 24,000 ATMs to students as of October.
School and city hall officials led by Mayor Edwin Olivarez personally handed last week the P500 cash allowance to the school campuses of students who have not yet received their ATMs up to this month.
At the same time, school officials are still validating the number of students who will receive the monthly special allowance, after they learned that some of the students are not residing in the city but in neighboring cities like Pasay and Taguig.
Under the approved ordinance, the P500 allowance will be given to qualified students provided they attend their classes 80 percent of the time. Teachers will be monitoring the students’ attendance.
Pulmano admitted they are “encountering some flaws” because the program started only this year but promised that majority of the students will receive their monthly allowance, even if they will not receive their ATM cards until December.
