Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 8248)
The main purpose of Republic Act No. 8248 is to further strengthen the science and technology program of the government by amending Republic Act No. 7687, also known as the Science and Technology Scholarship Act of 1994.
Section 4-A creates the Science and Technology Human Resource Development Council.
The Council is chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
The members include the Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Secretary of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), the Director-General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the President of the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC).
The Council's functions include coordinating science and technology human resource development programs; formulating medium- and long-term development plans; formulating scholarship allocation policies; setting policies on advanced degree programs; formulating career systems for technologists and technicians; designing programs to train and incentivize scientists, engineers, researchers, and technologists to return and work in the Philippines; and performing other duties necessary for effective implementation of the Act.
The Council has a term of four (4) years starting from the effectivity of the Act, unless extended by Congress.
The plan must be submitted to the President six (6) months after the effectivity of the Act.
The initial funding shall come from the current Fiscal Year Appropriations of the DOST. Additionally, the DOST budget shall be increased by ₱60 million per year until it reaches ₱300 million to sustain scholarship recipients. For the first two years, an extra ₱6 million per month, increasing to ₱7 million per month in the third and fourth years, will be provided from PAGCOR's net income to subsidize beneficiaries' expenses.
Priority is given to scholars graduating from high schools located in fifth (5th) and sixth (6th) class municipalities.
The Act took effect fifteen (15) days after its complete publication in two newspapers of general circulation.