One peso SMS charge to zero backlogs in education
and health infrastructures

At the cost of a peso for every text message sent, the current gaps in education and health infrastructures would be filled up once the proposed measure requiring telecommunication companies (telcos) to remit half of their net revenue from local text messages to the government is enacted into law, Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today said.

Gordon explained that Senate Bill (SB) 2402 he authored proposes that half of the cost of every single short message system (SMS) presently charged to consumers sent be allocated to a special fund that would address the country's ballooning backlogs in education and health infrastructures.

"When you think about it, 50 cents of every peso you pay every time you send a text message will ensure a world-class education system that is at par with other developing nations. We have more to gain from this than to lose," he said.

Gordon, chairman of the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises, said while the proposed measure, also known as the Health and Education Acceleration Program (HEAP) bill, may raise eyebrows at first, especially among telcos, the public would soon realize, once properly informed, the benefits it would bring to the whole country.

"If the public is aware of the educational and health benefits that our children will gain from the bill, I believe they would even text more often, knowing that every text message they send, part of it will be for the improvement of the country's education and health system," he said.

Based on the latest Department of Education (DepEd) report to the House appropriations committee, the country is suffering from shortages of 12,418 classrooms; 1,744,237 school seats; 44,200,000 textbooks; 12,733 teachers; and 24,709 principals.

In the same report, DepEd noted that 21 percent of pupils are malnourished; while, of pupils ages 6-12, 11.4 percent are iodine deficient, 37.4 percent suffer from iron deficiency anemia, and 36 percent are vitamin A deficient; 67 percent of children suffer from intestinal worms, 97% have dental caries, 6.23% have hearing impairment, and 2.54% are visually-impaired.

Gordon said the measure, which seeks to create a HEAP Corporation that would manage the fund, can address all these pupil health concerns with a sum of money that can be generated from the estimated fund.

From an estimated 400 million text messages sent per day with each text message at P1.00, of which 50 cents would go to the HEAP Fund, Gordon projected that the government would be able to collect some P73 billion in a year alone, more than enough to fund a comprehensive enhancement program for education and health.