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(NAR) VOL. 12 NO. 1 / JANUARY - MARCH 2001

[ DECS ORDER NO. 8, S. 2001, February 23, 2001 ]

IMPLEMENTING GUIDELINES FOR THE SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF STUDENTS (SPES)



1. In accordance with Republic Act No. 7323, otherwise known as “An Act to Help Poor But Deserving Students Pursue Their Education by Encouraging Their Employment During Summer or Christmas Vacation”, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) shall implement the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) every April to May of each year.

2.         The SPES aims to develop the intellectual capabilities of children from poor families and harness their potentials for the country’s well-being. Specifically, it seeks to help poor but deserving students pursue their education by providing or augmenting their income through employment during summer and/or Christmas vacation.  The program is being implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), in coordination with the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS).

3.         Qualified to avail of the Program are students and out of school youth (OSY) who are: a) between the ages 15-25; (b) enrolled during the school year; (c) with at least an average passing grade during the school year; (d) dropouts intending to continue their studies; e) coming from parents’ combined with net income after tax, including applicant’s own income, if any, not exceeding P36,000.00 per annum.

4.         SPES applicants are required to submit the following documents:
a. Bio-data with 1”x1” photo;
b. Three (3) copies of birth or baptismal certificate;
c. Three (3) xerox copies of certification by the School Registrar as  to:1) his/her last enrolment; and  2) his/her passing average grade; or a copy of the original class cards or Form 138; and
d. Three (3) xerox copies of certified true copy of the last Income Tax Return (ITR) of parents, or official certification from the Municipal Bureau of Internal Revenue Office attesting that the parents are earning less than P36,000.00 per annum, together with an affidavit of non-filing, or Barangay Certification.
5.         Qualified students will be paid according to the existing minimum daily wage rate provided for by a prevailing Wage Order issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board; sixty percent (60%) will come from the employing institution/office, and 40% from the DOLE in the form of Education Vouchers which may be used to defray tuition and other school fees of participating students.

6.         The DECS Center for Students and Co-Curricular Affairs (CSCA), headed by Executive Director and Kabataan 2000 National Action Officer Joey G. Pelaez, coordinates, oversees and monitors the implementation of the SPES for the Department at the national level, Kabataan 2000 regional action officers shall coordinate the implementation of the Program in their respective areas.

7.         Enclosed for information and reference is Republic Act No. 7323

8.         Immediate dissemination of the contents of this Order to all concerned is enjoined.

Adopted: 23 February 2001

(SGD.) ISAGANI R. CRUZ
Undersecretary

Republic Act No. 7323

An Act to Help Poor But Deserving Students Pursue Their Education by Encouraging Their Employment During Summer And/Or Christmas Vacations, Through Incentives Granted to Employers, Allowing Them to Pay Only Sixty Per Centum of their Salaries or Wages and the Forty Per Centum Through Education Vouchers to be Paid by the Government, Prohibiting and Penalizing the Filing of Fraudulent or Fictitious Claims, and For Other Purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, any person or entity employing at least fifty (50) persons may, during the summer and/or Christmas Vacations, employ poor but deserving students, fifteen (15) years of age but not more than twenty five (25) years old, paying them a salary or wage not lower than the minimum wage provided by law and other applicable labor rules and regulations.

For purposes of this Act, poor but deserving students refer to those whose parents’ combined incomes, together with their income, if any, do not exceed thirty-six thousand pesos (P36,000) per annum.  Employment should be at the Labor Exchange Center of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

SECTION 2. Sixty per centum (60%) of said salary or wage shall be paid by the employer in cash and forty per centum (40%) by the Government in the form of a voucher which shall be applicable in the payment for his tuition fees and books in any educational institution for secondary, tertiary, vocational or technological education.  The amount of the education voucher shall be paid by the government to the educational institution concerned within thirty (30) days from its presentation to the Officer or agency designated by the Secretary of Finance.

The voucher shall not be transferable except when the payee thereof dies or for a justifiable cause stops in his duties in which case it can be transferred to his brothers or sisters. If there is none, the amount thereof shall be paid his heirs or to the payee himself, as the case may be.

SECTION 3.       The Secretary of Labor and Employment, the Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports, and the Secretary of Finance shall issue the corresponding rules and regulations to carry out the progress of this Act.

The Secretary of Labor and Employment shall be the Project Director of this Program.

SECTION 4.       Any person or entity who shall make any fraudulent or fictitious claim under this Act, regardless of whether payment has been made, shall upon conviction be punished with imprisonment of not less than six (6) months and not more than one (1) year and a fine of not less than Ten Thousand pesos (P10,000), without prejudice to their prosecution and punishment for any other offense punishable under the Revised Penal Code or any other penal statute.

In case of partnerships or corporations, the managing partner, general manager, or chief executive officer, as the case may be, shall be criminally liable.

SECTION 5.       The amount necessary to carry out the purpose of this Act is hereby authorized to be appropriated in the General Appropriations Act of 1992 and the subsequent annual general appropriations acts.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved.

(SGD.) RAMON V. MITRA
(SGD.) NEPTALI A. GONZALES
Speaker of the House of Representatives
President of the Senate

This bill which originated  from the Senate was finally passed by  the Senate and the House of Representatives on February 6, 1992 and February 3, 1992, respectively.

(SGD.) CAMILO L. SABIO
(SGD.) ANACLETO D. BADOY, JR.
Secretary-General House of Representatives
Secretary of the Senate

Approved: March 30, 1992

(SGD.) CORAZON C. AQUINO
President of the Philippines
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