P100M/yr allotted for sugar industry scholarships

MANILA, Philippines – A total of P100 million every year has been earmarked to support qualified college and post-graduate students who can contribute to building up the country’s sugar industry, House Assistant Majority Leader and Cebu Rep. Gerard Anthony Gullas Jr. said over the weekend.

“The new Sugarcane Industry Development Law mandates an annual allocation of P100 million for scholarships meant to aggressively develop the human resources needed to boost the sector’s producti-vity,” said Gullas, who is also vice chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education.

He said Republic Act 10659 goes into effect on April 16.

He said students taking up courses in agriculture, agricultural engineering and mechanics, chemical engineering/sugar technology and related fields may qualify for scholarships.

“Scholarships will also be available to finance relevant vocational courses and skills development for cane farmers and farm technicians, along with workers in sugar mills, refineries, distilleries and biomass power generating plants running on bagasse and trash,” he said.

Backed by 762,000 farmers and workers, the sugar industry contributed some P88 billion to the national economy in 2014.

Annual national output of the commodity is around 2.4 million metric tons, of which up to 10 percent is exported, mainly to the US, according to the Sugar Regulatory Administration.

The lawmaker earlier revealed that three out of every five Filipino high school graduates will be unable to proceed to college, mainly because of financial hardship. –Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star)