Metro Pacific Tollways opens engineering scholarship program

MANILA, Philippines - High school graduates living in communities adjacent to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and who are interested in taking up engineering or other technical courses may apply for the scholarship grants being offered by Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC). 

In a statement, MPTC president and chief executive officer Ramoncito Fernandez said the scholarship grant is “in line with Metro Pacific Group’s mission to help improve the lives of families in these communities by providing financial assistance for their dependents’ college education.”

“The focus shall be on high school graduates who are interested to pursue a technical or engineering course,” he said.

For school year 2012-2013, three scholarship grants are also available for children of employees of companies of the MPTC Group. These are the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), the Tollways Management Corp. (TMC), the Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC).

The MPTC earlier formalized cooperation with three reputable universities where the scholars may enroll in engineering or technical courses.

Last Nov. 4, the MPTC signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City to implement the scholarship program.

This was followed by another MOA signing with the Bulacan State University on Nov. 16, and with the Holy Angel University on Dec. 2.

The scholarship program is meant to increase the number of engineers in the country who can help improve infrastructure development to accelerate national economic and social growth.

The scholarship grants were initially limited to students belonging to indigenous families living in communities near NLEX and SCTEX.

“These scholarship grants are designed to financially assist qualified applicants in obtaining degrees from accredited academic institutions of higher learning in the field of engineering or any related field of study,” Fernandez said.

He said the program is open to any student who plans to take Engineering or related courses or is already studying in an accredited school.

The number of scholars is limited to 10 and are classified as community-based scholars (four slots), UP Diliman Engineering scholars (three slots), and employee dependents (three slots).

Applicants for community-based slots must present pertinent documents showing that the annual family income is below P150,000; for employee dependent slots, not more than P700,000. 

 Apart from the tuitions which are paid directly to the school, the scholars will also receive a monthly allowance of P2,000. Failure to meet the set standards could result in termination of the scholarship grant.