‘Fresh grads must not pay fees for gov’t documents’

Sen. Grace Poe has called for the exemption of fresh graduates of college, high school and vocational courses from the payment of fees for government documents required for employment purposes.

These include the National Bureau of Investigation certificate, police and barangay clearances which are normally required when applying for jobs.

Poe said that the fresh graduates should not be given the additional burden of paying for fees when they do not even have jobs yet.

To pave the way for the proposed exemption, Poe filed Senate Bill 343, which provides that all government agencies including state-owned and controlled corporations and local government units shall not collect fees from fresh graduates for pre-employment documents.

In order to qualify for the waiver, the bill states that applicant must present his diploma, certification or any document proving his recent graduation from high school, college or vocational course.

“The waiver must not be taken as a loss of revenue for the government, but as an investment in the labor force, which is in its best interest to protect and promote,” Poe said in her bill.

Citing a report from the Commission on Higher Education, Poe noted that an average of 542,000 college students graduated every year from 2010 to 2014.