MAYOR Edwin Olivarez bared on Monday his priority programs for the city of Parañaque in the next five years, focusing on education, job creation and health services.
In his fifth State of City Address held at the city hall, the local chief executive announced the allocation of P100 million this year for various scholarship programs, out-of-school youths, dropouts and construction of state-of-the-art school buildings in the city’s two districts. He said they are now funding high-quality public infrastructure on education by allowing access of services across sectors designed to support the academic progress of students in every community.
To help hundreds of poor yet deserving students finish the tertiary level of learning, he added his administration will continue its college financial assistance to them. The mayor revealed that 1,144 college scholars in District 1 and 1,322 in District 2 have been receiving substantial amount every semester from the local government since he assumed office in 2013.
“When preparing a college fund, no financial resource should be ignored. With the right education grants, students can make their dreams of a higher education a reality,” Olivarez said.
The local government, according to him, commenced last year the construction of a school building for the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Parañaque in a 1-hectare government property in Kabihasnan in Barangay San Dionisio.
This will be the first state-funded university in the city once completed. It will offer baccalaureate degrees to college students. Initially, the university would offer courses that match the existing job opportunities in the city, particularly in the gaming and tourism, hotel and restaurant, logistics and airport operations, he cited.
Olivarez said that graduating students in government-run colleges will be given priority in employment.
“I will personally recommend them in the strip of casinos, world-class hotels and leisure destinations in Pagcor [Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.] Entertainment City facing Manila Bay,” he said. To date, around 22,198 job applicants from the city’s 16 barangays and neighboring cities have been recruited and referred since the city-sponsored job fairs started in 2014.