Expansion of SPES coverage and provisions

Section 1 defines “poor but deserving students” as those whose parents’ combined income, together with the students’ own income if any, does not exceed the annual regional poverty threshold level for a family of six (6) for the preceding year.
Section 1 provides that the annual regional poverty threshold level for a family of six (6) is to be determined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Section 1 provides that employment facilitation services for applicants to the program are done by the Public Employment Service Office (PESO).
Section 1 requires participating employers, in coordination with the PESO, to inform SPES employees of their rights, benefits, and privileges under existing laws, company policies, and employment contracts.

Section 2 amends Section 2 of Republic Act No. 7323 by requiring that sixty per centum (60%) of the students’ salary or wage be paid by employers in cash.
Section 2 requires that forty per centum (40%) be paid by the government in the form of a voucher.
Section 2 limits voucher use to payment for tuition fees and books in any educational institution for secondary, tertiary, vocational, or technical education.
Section 2 allows local government units (LGUs) to assume responsibility for paying the students’ salary or wages in full.
Section 2 requires that the amount of the education vouchers be paid by the government to the educational institutions concerned within thirty (30) days from presentation to the officer or agency designated by the Secretary of Finance.
Section 2 states that the vouchers are not transferable, except that if the payee dies or for a justifiable cause stops in his duties, the voucher may be transferred to the brothers or sisters of the payee; if there are none, the amount is paid to the heirs or to the payee himself, as the case may be.

Section 3 amends Section 3 of Republic Act No. 7323 and requires the following officials to issue corresponding rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of the Act: the Secretary of Labor and Employment, the Secretary of Education, the Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education, the Secretary of Budget and Management, the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development, and the Secretary of Finance.
Section 3 designates the Secretary of Labor and Employment as the Program Chairman.

Section 4 amends Section 4 of Republic Act No. 7323 and imposes criminal liability on persons or entities who refuse to honor education vouchers or who make fraudulent or fictitious claims under the Act, regardless of whether payment has been made.
Section 4 provides that, upon conviction, the penalty is imprisonment of not less than six (6) months and not more than one (1) year.
Section 4 provides that, upon conviction, the penalty includes a fine of not less than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00).
Section 4 states that the penalty is without prejudice to prosecution and punishment for any other offense punishable under the Revised Penal Code or any other penal statute.
Section 4 provides that, for partnerships or corporations, the managing partner, general manager, or chief executive officer is criminally liable.

Section 5 amends Section 5 of Republic Act No. 7323 and directs the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment to include in the Department’s program the operationalization of the expanded Special Program for the Employment of Students.
Section 5 authorizes the amount necessary to carry out the purposes of the Act to be appropriated in the General Appropriations Act for 1992 and the subsequent annual general appropriations acts.
Section 5 requires that the appropriation for the purposes of the Act shall not be reduced by Congress below the amount appropriated for the previous year.
Section 5 requires that, after approval, the appropriation shall be automatically and regularly released.
Section 5 mandates that the appropriation shall be increased by at least twenty per centum (20%) annually.

Section 6 provides that if any provision or part of the Act, or its application, is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act or the application to other persons or circumstances remains effective.
Section 7 provides that all laws, orders, issuances, rules and regulations, or parts inconsistent with the Act are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.
Section 8 provides that the Act takes effect fifteen (15) days after its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of national circulation, whichever comes earlier.

Republic Act No. 9547 is entitled “AN ACT STRENGTHENING AND EXPANDING THE COVERAGE OF THE SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR EMPLOYMENT OF STUDENTS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE PROVISIONS OF R.A. NO. 7323, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR EMPLOYMENT OF STUDENTS.”
The Act is approved on APR 01 2009.
The bill consolidation states Senate Bill No. 2116 and House Bill No. 5388 and records passage by the Senate on March 5, 2009 and by the House of Representatives on March 3, 2009.
The Act is Republic Act No. 9547 and is dated April 01, 2009.