MANILA, Philippines - The Makati City Council has approved a total budget of P3.6 million for the benefit of city scholars enrolled in the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Philippine Normal University (PNU) this school year.
Under City Ordinance No. 2014-005, P2.5 million has been allocated to the UP College Scholarship Program, while the PNU College Scholarship Program was granted P1.1 million.
The Makati City government said four more graduates, three of them with honors, have graduated from UP and the PNU.
In a report to Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, the Makati Education Department cited scholars Roochie Mico Cosico who graduated magna cum laude for Civil Engineering, and Jeffrey Losañes, cum laude for Industrial Engineering, both from UP Diliman. Meanwhile, the two scholars who graduated from PNU last April were Mary Delle Gomez, cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, and Kimberly Cantos, BSE major in General Science.
Binay congratulated the new graduates and thanked them for giving honor to the city by excelling in their studies.
“We are thankful to our scholars for valuing the opportunity to achieve their dreams as scholars of our college scholarship programs in two premier state universities. We have high hopes that they are now ready to take on the challenges and succeed in their chosen fields,” Binay said
According to Makati Education Department head Norma Tumambing, scholars receive a monthly stipend of P4,000 each for five months per semester, aside from their tuition fees and other school fees shouldered by the city government. Scholars at UP receive a P5,000-book allowance every semester, and for PNU scholars, P4,000 per semester.
For the first semester of school year 2014-2015, Tumambing reported 17 scholars at UP and 21 scholars at PNU taking up various courses.
The two scholarship programs award full scholarship to qualified, deserving Makati public high school graduates. In order to retain their scholarship, scholars in UP must maintain the required average grade of 2.0 or its equivalent, for a load of at least 15 units with no failing grade. PNU scholars, on the other hand, are required to maintain the required average grade of 85 percent for a load of at least 15 units with no failing grade.
Free access to quality education, especially of those from indigent families in the city, is a continuing commitment of the city government of Makati, Binay said.