Student incentive ordinance passes evaluation; Amendments sought

November 11, 2019 Metro BLISTT

The ordinance providing for incentive allowance to qualified students of the Baguio City National High School (BCNHS) and Pines City National High School (PCNHS) has been tracked and evaluated by the Legislative Monitoring and Evaluation Section (LMES) of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
According to the status report, Ordinance 110-88, as amended, is being implemented by the concerned schools. A number of suggestions, however, were given by concerned offices to further improve the ordinance and strengthen its implementation.
Under the ordinance, qualified students are granted P100.00 per month each for a period of 10 months corresponding to the school year. To qualify as a beneficiary, the student at the BCNHS/PCNHS or their respective annexes should belong to any of the following student classifications: those who have completed their elementary education at the head of their respective classes; those who are able to finish at the head of either the first, second, and third year classes (Grade 7, Grade 8, and Grade 9 in the K-12 Curriculum) upon re-enrollment in the same school; athletes at the beginning of the school year who are certified full-fledged members of the region’s delegation to any national meet the previous school year; members of the school band or orchestra; elected and appointed editors in chief, assistant editors-in-chief, and managing editors of their respective school paper organizations; and students in the special science classes at the BCNHS.
Copies of the ordinance have been furnished by the LMES to concerned offices for their feedback and recommendations. City Budget Officer Leticia Clemente, in her letter, apprised the Sangguniang Panlungsod, through the LMES, of some adjustments considered by the City Budget Office relative to the said ordinance.
She reported that additional beneficiaries had been included in the appropriation starting year 2012 and every year thereafter, such as honor pupils in their classes from Grades 1 to 6 amounting to P400.00 per month for each school year. She also added that the incentive granted to students belonging to the various programs had increased from P100.00 to an amount ranging from P300.00 to P500 depending on the category of the special program.
Brenda Carino, Secondary School Principal IV of the BCNHS, recommended the inclusion of the following students as beneficiaries of the said grant: the BCNHS’ Special Programs in journalism, Arts, and Sports; and winners of other regional and national competitions not only athletes. Carino also proposed the formulation of a mechanism that includes factors affecting the value of the incentives given to beneficiaries such as inflation rate. She said that this will ensure a more flexible provision which will prevent occasional revision of the ordinance in an attempt to attune it to economic changes.
On the other hand, Whitney Dawayen, School Head III of the PCNHS, commented that the ordinance does not allow double or multiple incentives which discourages students to excel in various categories. She then suggested that students be allowed to receive more than one incentive if they qualify in other categories to encourage them to expand their interest in other fields and enhance their other skills.
Dr. Federico Martin, then Schools Division Superintendent of DepEd-CAR (Baguio Division) when the interview was conducted, wanted to change the phrase “the BCNHS and the PCNHS” to “all public schools within the City” in all the sections of the ordinance. Martin also wanted to change the phrase “at the head of his class” to “with honors at the end of the school year”.
Moreover, members of the Supreme Pupil Government and Supreme Student Government be included as recipients of the student allowance.
Jordan G. Habbiling, PIO/ABN