Angara to launch Senate internship program

Sen. Edgardo Angara will launch this summer an internship program for outstanding junior and senior college students to expose them to the various dimensions of Senate work.

"The internship program hopes to develop a corps of students fully exposed to the process of legislation and the crafting of policy," explained Angara, a former president of the University of the Philippines and chairman of the Senate committee on education in the Eighth Congress.

He said that students selected for the Edgardo Angara Summer Internship Program will have a first-hand exposure on how big and lofty ideals are concretized into laws, empowering legislation.

The interns will get to know the entire process of lawmaking, from the preparation of bills to committee deliberations, plenary debates, to bicameral conferences.

They will also be exposed to the research process involved in policy-making. This covers research work on data and studies critical to a particular piece of legislation or legislative advocacy. Researches of this kind draw from government and private sector data bank and the Internet.

Another focus of the Angara internship program is on media relations. This field involves publicizing and promoting bills and legislative advocacy. The interns will be asked to draft press statements, and interact with Senate reporters.

The interns will also network with political leaders, non-government organizations, civic groups and private business leaders involved with and interested in passing certain legislative measures.

"The student-interns will have a crash course on how the political system works in the Philippines," Angara said.

The internship will run throughout the summer break, from April 1 to May 31.

Students in the top ten percent of their class can apply for the internship program. Those chosen will receive an adequate allowance, according to Angara.

Interested students should submit their resumes and passport-size photos on or before March 20 to the office of Sen. Edgardo Angara, Senate of the Philippines, GSIS Complex, Roxas blvd., Pasay City.