A legislator has filed a bill that would incentivize farmers and fisherfolks and provide scholarships to their children and dependents.
Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte filed House Bill 9095 also known as the Educational Scholarship for Children and Dependents of Farmers and Fisherfolks Act of 2023. The bill aims to provide full scholarships for the children and dependents of farmers and fishermen listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA).
“The country’s agricultural industry has suffered the largest employment drop in 2022. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reports stated that the agricultural sector —agriculture, forestry, fishing, and aquaculture industries — had its share of total employment fall from 24.5 percent (9.7 million) in October 2020 and 24.6 percent (10.77 million) in October 2021 to 22.5 percent (10.60 million) in October 2022,” Duterte explained.
Duterte added that according to PSA, the country’s farmers and fisherfolks remain to be the “poorest in the country” with a poverty incidence rate of 30.6 percent in 2021.
They should be entitled to full scholarships from basic education until their completion of tertiary education subject to rules and regulations as mandated by the proposed measure. The benefits shall include all expenses for education, whether in public or private school, such as but not limited to tuition fees, miscellaneous and other fees, board and lodging, transportation expenses, allowances for books, clothing and food and other similar expenses, it added.