speeches of bam aquino

Sponsorship Speech: Trabaho Center in Schools Act

Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” A. Aquino IV
17th Congress, Senate of the Philippines
Sponsorship Speech, December 13, 2016

  

Good afternoon, Mr. President and my distinguished colleagues.  Mga kaibigan, mga kababayan, magandang hapon sa ating lahat!

I am honored to address you today as I sponsor a policy that seeks to empower every Filipino graduate with gainful employment by bridging our schools and industries.

 Senate Bill No. 1278, Under Committee Report No. 20 entitled: An Act Establishing Job Placement Offices in Public High Schools to Provide Career Services to the Youth also known as the Trabaho Center in Schools Act seeks to ensure that every high school graduate in the Philippines can join the workforce and build a successful career by institutionalizing job placement offices in our public schools and State Universities and Colleges.

 “Nag-aral. Nag-apply. Nabigo.” Isa po ito sa mga sikat naming post sa Facebook.

 Marami po ang nag-like, nag-share, at nag-comment ng kanilang karanasan sa paghahanap ng trabaho. Marami po ang nagsikap sa pag-aaral, gumaan ang loob sa pagtatapos at pag-graduate, ngunit nahirapan pa ring makahanap ng trabaho. Marami po ang naka-relate sa pagkabigo sa job hunt.

 Unfortunately, Mr. President, graduating from high school – even earning a college degree – is not a guarantee of finding a job and kickstarting a career.

As you know, one of the promises of the K to 12 Program is that even high school graduates should be ready and able to seize employment opportunities right after Grade 12. Ngunit marami pa rin po tayong maaaring gawin para masigurado ang pangarap na ito.

 Mr. President, in data released by the Philippine Statistics Office, the unemployment rate is at 4.7% with over 2 million jobless Filipinos. The number of underemployed Filipinos is also quite staggering – 7.51 million Filipinos. Clearly, there is a need, not only to generate employment opportunities, but also to address the jobs mismatch in the country.

 Let’s make sure that all the hard work of our students, their parents, and their teachers do not go to waste. Let’s ensure that there are suitable jobs waiting for students – and that our students are ready to take them on once they graduate.

 Mr. President, the Trabaho Center in Schools Act will serve as that bridge between the job market and the supply of graduates. It mandates the establishment of a Trabaho Center in every public high school and SUC with main services that include: 1) Industry Matching, 2) CareerCoaching, and 3) Employment Facilitation. The key to success of the Trabaho Center is its relationship with – and knowledge of – potential employers and industries in their area.

 The Trabaho Centers will link with industries to create a functional academic-industry partnership so there can be continuous checking and updating of curricila and courses offered to our students, especially on the tech-voc track in our K to 12 system. They must maintain an updated database of employers, contacts, and job opportunities in the locality and use this data to provide students coaching on what fields of study are available and what specific jobs they can expect to apply for upon graduation. With an updated database and a deep understanding of the needs of companies and employers, these Trabaho Centers can move beyond the usual aptitude tests and vague, conceptual career advice. Career coaching in our Trabaho Centers must be well informed and practical.

 Knowing the needs of the job market and being aware of the skills and knowledge of students, Trabaho Centers can also go beyond job fairs and pre-employment seminars when it comes to employment facilitation. Our responsive Trabaho Centers can address the skills mismatch from within our schools, giving feedback for teaching modules and even working with TESDA to better develop the skills of graduates and ensure employability upon graduation. These Trabaho Centers will not only provide information on the available jobs, but also help schools improve their approaches and regularly update their lessons.

This simple intervention can strengthen the link between education and employment, and can build a steady bridge for our graduates to cross over to stable jobs and sustainable livelihood. With Trabaho Centers in every school, a diploma will be more than a symbol and a graduation will be more than a milestone. With Trabaho Centers in every school, graduates are ensured gainful employment and can look forward to a secure future.

Nag-aral at nagtapos. Nagtrabaho at umasenso. ‘Yan po ang pangarap natin para sa bawat Pilipino!

Siguraduhin po natin na may trabahong naghihintay para sa bawat graduate. Siguraduhin natin na may sapat na kaalaman at kakayahan ang mga bagong graduate na punuan ang mga job vacancies. Siguraduhin natin na maipapasa ang Trabaho Center in Schools Act!

 Mr. President and distinguished colleagues, let’s come together and rally for the future of every Filipino student! Let’s bridge that gap between free, quality education and a secure career so that we can finally beat poverty and bring forth prosperity for every Filipino! Maraming, maraming salamat po! Magandang hapon sa ating lahat!

Sponsorship Speech: Pagkaing Pinoy para sa Batang Pinoy Act

Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” A. Aquino IV
17th Congress, Senate of the Philippines
Sponsorship Speech as delivered, December 13, 2016

  

Magandang hapon po sa ating lahat! Mr. President and my distinguished colleagues, good afternoon!

 

I stand before you today as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education to sponsor Senate Bill No.1279 in substitution of Senate Bill Numbers 23, 123, 160, 220, 406, 416, and 694, Under Committee Report No. 21 entitled: An Act Creating a National School Feeding Program to Combat Hunger and Undernutrition for All Public Basic Education Students, and For Other Purposes, otherwise known as the “Pagkaing Pinoy Para Sa Batang Pinoy Act”.

Mr. President, yesterday, we lost an exemplary Filipino and a true advocate for prosperity – Mr. Manny Perlas of Lifebank – that’s him right there with the white hair. Manny Perlas was one of the first benefactors of GK’s Kusina ng Kalinga and the group credits his leadership in the establishment of this feeding program back in 2014.

 Mr. President, this is a photo of Mr. Manny Perlas during the opening of the first ever Kusina ng Kalinga in Alang-Alang Leyte. Manny’s Kusina ng Kalinga or KnK has always been a program that brings smiles to people’s faces – whether students, teachers or volunteers!

 Mr. President, nagsimula po ang KnK sa Leyte bilang relief effort para sa public school na apektado ng Typhoon Yolanda – ang Alang-Alang I Central School, kung saan po itinayo ang unang kusina.

 Mr. President, nalaman po nila na ang numero-unong dahilan kung bakit hindi pumapasok ang isang mag-aaral ay dahil sa gutom – gutom na madali namang pawiin sa simpleng feeding program. Noong nakita nila na dahil sa KnK ay mas masigla at mas bibo sa klase ang mga estudyante, itinuloy po nila ang proyekto!

 Kumuha ang KnK ng tatlong regular na kitchen staff at nakakakuha rin sila ng sampu hanggang labinlimang volunteer na magulang sa bawat araw ng pagpasok. Kinausap ho nila ang mga lokal na magsasaka upang mag-supply ng mga ingredients, tulad ng malunggay.

 And Mr. President, thanks to Kusina ng Kalinga in Alang-Alang, Leyte, thanks to parent volunteers, and thanks to local farmers, about 2,600 students are fed nutritious meals in 4 schools (in Leyte) – Alang-Alang I Central School, Binongtoan Elementary School, M Casaus Elementary School, and San Roque Day Care Center.

 Based on their data, the number of severely malnourished children in their schools dropped from 268 to 47, that’s 11% down to 2%, spanning one school year, 2015 to 2016 (Start of Year Report vs. End of Year Report, SY 2015-2016).

 Since they started the project in Leyte in 2014, Kusina ng Kalinga now covers 61 schools and feeds over 18,000 Filipino children around the country. And, Mr. President, I’m happy to learn that Kusina ng Kalinga is not the only successful feeding program in the country.

 There are smaller movements like our friends from Navotas High School with a current program that feeds 120 students. Advancement for Rural Kids or ARK also has a feeding and livelihood program that has helped 10 communities and over 2,400 kids. There are also larger movements like Jollibee Foundation’s Busog, Lusog, Talino School Feeding Program that has covered 1,500 schools, feeding over 140,000 students from 2007 to 2014. And Mr. President, there are even more feeding programs around the Philippines!

 But unfortunately, all of these efforts are still not enough. In The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012 study conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization or FAO, it was revealed that 16 million Filipino children are considered undernourished. Mr. President, labing-anim na milyong batang Pilipino ang undernourished. Iyan po ay isang numero na napakalaki at nakakabahala.

 Sa kabilang dako naman po, ang ating mga mangingisda at magsasaka ay patanda ng patanda at pabawas ng pabawas. The average age of the 11 million Filipino farmers and fishermen is 57 years old and the average annual income of a farmer is only 20,000 pesos.

 In fact, if you look at these 3 sectors – our fishermen, farmers, and children – you will find that these sectors have the highest poverty incidence. For fishermen it is at 39.2%, for farmers it is 38.3% and 35.2% for children, according to the Philippine Statistics Office. All of this is in 2012, Mr. President.

 Kailangan nating gawan ng paraan na matulungan ang mga batang Pilipinong nahihirapang mag-aral dahil sa kumukulong tiyan. Kailangan rin po natin bigyan ng sapat, regular, at pangmatagalang kabuhayan ang ating mga magsasaka at mangingisda.

 Mr. President and honored colleagues, aren’t these two problems pieces of the same puzzle that fit perfectly together?

 On one hand, we have children who need nutritious food and on the hand we have farmers and fishermen producing food without the means to sell. Today, we’re given the opportunity to bridge this gap and fulfill our duty to uplift the lives of our poorest countrymen. The Pagkaing Pinoy Para sa Batang Pinoy Act can be that link between hungry young Filipinos and anxious farmers and fishermen.

 The Pagkaing Pinoy Para sa Batang Pinoy Act will bring the progress we’ve seen in Alang-Alang, Leyte of Kusina ng Kalinga to more and more students and more and more communities across the country. The Pagkaing Pinoy Para sa Batang Pinoy Act will institutionalize an effective feeding program, sustained by local gardens, farmers and fishermen, and powered by community engagement and volunteerism.

 Through this policy, school children in the kindergarten and elementary levels will enjoy free access to nutritious food with the DepEd ensuring that students from kindergarten to grade 6 are provided with proper meals.

 In addition, this measure includes a Gulayan sa Paaralan program to promote gardening in schools and households, which will help augment the food needs of the program and instill a sense of appreciation for food production within the community. Sa programang Gulayan sa Paaralan, matututunan po ng mga mag-aaral na pangalagahan ang pagtatanim ng pagkain at ng pagsasaka. The goal of this measure is not just to feed our hungry Filipino children but to nourish them with healthy food sourced from the community, sourced local farmers, and fishermen.

 Mr. President, when our students are healthy and fed, they grow even hungrier for knowledge and learning! Thanks to the nutritious meals, they joyfully go to school and gladly participate in the classroom.

 Sa Pagkaing Pinoy para sa Batang Pinoy Act, lalaki ng malakas, matalino at malusog ang kabataang Pilipino habang umaasenso naman po ang buhay ng ating mga magsasaka at mangingisda!

 Suportahan po natin ang pagpasa ng Pagkaing Pinoy Para Pa Batang Pinoy Act para sa kabataang Pilipino, para sa ating mga mangingisda at magsasakam para sa ating komunidad, at para sa ating bayan! Maraming, maraming salamat po!

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