Measure establishes full scholarship program for would-be professionals

NAGA CITY --- Preparing would-be professionals to ensure effective delivery of services is about to be implemented by the city government.

Introduced as City Ordinance 2018-030, the measure calls for the establishment of full scholarship program for tertiary education and continuing professional development, an approach that will allow the LGU to produce professionals and proficient workers who may be hired as doctors, engineers, architects, urban planners, teachers, and environmental protection specialists.

City Councilor Miles Raquid-Arroyo, who authored the ordinance, said there has been a shortage of doctors in the Naga City Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Infirmary that these scholars may fill up once they finished their studies and passed the licensure examinations.

The ordinance’s explanatory note cited as culprit the brain drain crisis that sent our own professionals to leave the country for high-paying jobs abroad. “Such crisis cripples not only in terms of workers leaving the country, but also in terms of workers leaving the countryside like Naga in favor of the metropolis,” she says. “One glaring example of this debilitating crisis that we now experience is the difficulty in finding and enlisting the engineers needed to do the work long needed to have been done such as the city’s Master Drainage Plan,” she added.

Section 8 of the ordinance provides that in order to ensure the steady supply of professionals, measure, the scholars under the Full Tertiary Education Scholarship Program (FTESP) and Full Scholarship Program for Continuing Professional Development (FSPCPD) will be bound to render service to the city government under arrangements favorable to both.

The same section of the ordinance discusses all the conditions set with regard to the grantees’ service requirement.

The guidelines for FTESP applicants:

o Born and residing in Naga City o A high school graduate from any DepEd accredited school o Had earned a general average grade of not less than 85% in his last year in high school o Interested in and has the aptitude for any of the hereunder tertiary education program: • Medicine • Engineering (Civil, Geodetic, Electrical, IT) • Architecture • Urban planning o Has not been penalized for any violation involving moral turpitude o Committed to devote the first few years of his professional life, once attained, in service of the Nagueños through the city government of Naga o Has passed the panel interview required under Section 6.1.3 of the ordinance.

For FSPCPD applicants: o A registered voter in Naga City o A graduate of any 4-year College Course o Occupying a position classified as at least middle management or division chief at the time of the application o Has rendered service as a professional for at least 5 years prior to the application o Engaged in the following fields and is interested in attaining expertise in such field: • Medicine • Engineering (Civil, Geodetic, Electrical, IT) • Architecture • Urban planning • Education • Environmental Protection o The applicants’ service rendered has been recognized or rated by his/her immediate supervisor as being at least very satisfactory in the last 2 years of service prior to the application.