Paglaum gives hope to students in province
Rea Bas hopes that education will change her family’s life.
The 18-year-old education student from the Cebu Technological University-Tuburan campus said she sought refuge in her studies after a bad experience in the family.
She said her father was arrested for illegal drugs. He was one of the many suspected drug personalities who surrendered to the authorities during the early months of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration. But after he surrendered, Bas’ father returned to his old ways.
With her mother raising her and her sister on her own, Bas asked for help from relatives in her studies.
Through the help of a cousin, Bas studied in CTU where she is now in third year in college.
But Bas realized her cousin was also having difficult time sustaining her studies, so Bas decided to get a scholarship.
Bas is one of the 734 students from different areas in Cebu Province in the first batch of recipients of the Paglaum Scholarship Program.
Another recipient, Helen Grace Santiago, 26, wanted to prove that a disability is not a hindrance to education.
Santiago, who can’t walk on both legs, is a second year student of CTU-San Francisco, Camotes campus.
Santiago said the Paglaum program is a big help to poor students like her who want to finish college.
“Dako gyod siyag natabang nako. Mas na-prove pa gyod nako nga dili gyod maayo nga ipatigbabaw nimo ang imong pagka-negative sa imong hunahuna tungod kay naa kay disability, diha na lang ka kutob (It doesn’t mean that because you have a disability, you cannot succeed),” she said.
Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, main sponsor of the ordinance creating the Paglaum program, told report- ers that of the 734 scholars, 600 are funded by the Province, while the rest are funded by Sens. Bam Aquino and Kabayan Partylist Rep. Harry Roque.
Magpale said that the Paglaum scholarship is unique because all low-income students in Cebu Province, whether he or she has exemplary performance in high school, will qualify.
Aside from having a low income, beneficiaries can receive the educational aid if they are indigents, if they are victims of rape, human trafficking, drug abuse, or child abuse, or if they are children of drug dependents, if they come from dysfunctional families, solo parents, deceased parents, and if come from a marginalized sector of society.
The Cebu Provincial Government allocated P10 million for the program this year, which is downloaded to the schools through the Commission on Higher Education (Ched).
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, in a separate interview, urged the beneficiaries to not waste the opportunity given to them. /