Parañaque City 2nd district Representative-elect Brian Raymund Yamsuan is eyeing the expansion of his "ayuda" program for poor but deserving students among his constituents.
“Our BAON (Bigay Ayuda at Oportunidad sa Nakababata) program had huge impact on the youth in the second district. We will continue implementing and find ways to broaden its scope to benefit more Parañaqueños in the district," Yamsuan said in a statement Tuesday, May 27.
"We will start on day one of my term,” he declared ahead of the 20th Congress.
Yamsuan, Bicol Saro Party-list's lone nominee in the current 19th Congress, said education would be among his priorities as he endeavors to empower the youth and help them take charge of their future.
“Our goal is to make education affordable and easily accessible to give everyone an equal opportunity to succeed in overcoming life’s challenges and carving a stable and vibrant future," he said.
"Edukasyon, sipag at determinasyon ang pinanghawakan ko noon para makaahon sa kahirapan kaya’t alam ko na kung mabibigyan lamang ng maayos na edukasyon ay may naghihintay na matatag na bukas para sa bawat masisipag na Parañaqueno ng second district,” added the former Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) assistant secretary.
(Education, diligence and determination were what I held onto in the past to rise above poverty, which is why I know that a stable future awaits every hardworking Parañaquenõ in the second district if given the chance to have a proper education.)
BAON, which Yamsuan started implementing in the district last year, provides a one-time P5,000 educational assistance to each qualified student-beneficiary, and P10,000 each to Dean’s Listers or those With High Honors.
As of April 2025, BAON has benefited about 5,000 students in the elementary, high school and college levels who are residents of Parañaque’s 2nd district.
Yamsuan said that on top of continuing his BAON program, he is also in talks with fellow lawmakers to determine how to increase government funding for the Parañaque City campus of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) so that more underprivileged but deserving students from the second district would be able to study in this state educational institution.
Established through the efforts of the city’s former mayor, Florencio Bernabe Jr., PUP Parañaque offers academic programs leading to Bachelor of Science degrees in computer engineering, hospitality management, information technology, and office administration. It also offers a Diploma in Office Management Technology-Legal Office Management.
Yamsuan said BAON’s positive impact was among the key factors that helped him secure the youth vote in the district.
“As the saying goes ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.' Our programs will focus on initiatives that would have lasting positive outcomes on people’s lives,” he said.