Scholarship for slain agents’ kids available

MANILA-- The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Arellano University (AU) on Friday signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the extension of scholarship grants to children of PDEA personnel killed in action.

“Under the agreement, the educational scholarship grant is available in all of AU’s seven campuses in Metro Manila for school years 2019 to 2023. The scholarship is for students studying in elementary, secondary and college,” PDEA Director General Aaron N. Aquino said on the sidelines of the signing ceremony held at the PDEA headquarters in Quezon City.

Signing for PDEA was Aquino while representing Arellano University was its chairman and president Francisco Paulino V. Cayco.

The MOA signing marked another milestone in the history of PDEA. This is the first time the agency partnered with an academic institution to provide quality education to dependents of PDEA casualties.

“PDEA would like to express its gratitude to Arellano University for recognizing the lives and limbs sacrificed by valiant men and women of PDEA in the name of public service. The educational

privilege will be a huge morale boost to our personnel,” Aquino said, adding that this has reduced the burden of financing the education of their children.

The scholarship is also offered to children of PDEA personnel who are either left permanently incapacitated after undergoing complete disability discharge proceedings, or by meritorious reasons that qualify them for the scholarship.

To avail of the educational benefit, PDEA must submit the necessary documentary proof that the grantee is indeed the child of a PDEA personnel who was killed in action or left totally disabled while in the line of duty.

According to Aquino, the admission of grantees to any AU campus is in accordance with the quota assigned and the programs offered subject to the laws and admission policies of the university.

However, the grantee must satisfactorily pass the course of instruction based on the approved standards of AU. If the grantee fails to pass a subject, his/her benefit shall be considered suspended. The grantee has the option to retake the subject at his/her own expense.

SIGN LANGUAGE TRAINING. Trainer Rizalen Balancio of the Department of Health in the National Capital Region (DOH-NCR) shows the different signs for the letters of the alphabet during the three-day Basic Filipino Sign Language (BFSL) training for health workers held in San Mateo, Rizal from July 3-5, 2019. The training aims to educate and train health workers to be able to properly communicate with people who have difficulty hearing or speaking. (PNA photo by Ben Briones)