City scholarship program expanded

The City Council on Monday amended the City College Scholarship Program (CCSP) following calls to include college students whose families have been affected by government projects.

In a majority vote, the Council passed an ordinance expanding coverage of its scholarship program to cover college students from families belonging to the marginalized sector who were dislocated economically due to the implementation of city government projects, such as the closure of the Zayas landfill.

Under the existing ordinance, the city only accepts applicants that are high school graduates, meaning, students who are already enrolled in college will not be accepted.

The closure of the old dumpsite in barangay Carmen led to the loss of livelihood for the families whose main source of income involved scavenging recyclables.

City Councilor Suzette Magtajas-Daba, chairperson of the committee on education, said with the Council’s approval, they are now taking in eight 3rd year and 4th year college students, who are sons and daughters of the former garbage scavengers.

Daba said the CCSP still has about P27 million as the city did not accept new scholars for the past two years because of the government’s K-12 program.

“These are 3rd year and 4th year college students already, and na-dislocate sila because their source of income is naa man sa sanitary landfill, which is now temporarily closed, so we are supporting them to finish their studies. And gidali ni nato because according to them, payment of tuition fee is coming up,” Daba said.

“The new ordinance will be precedent or model for future similar cases, for as long as they are hit with the project implementation of the city government, and for as long as the project is in the city, of course” she added.

The new set of scholars will also be required to maintain a grade.

City Councilor Edna Dahino, chairperson of the committee on finance, said she is looking at adding the scholarship budget to accommodate more scholars in the city.

“We have many young students who have so much potential, but they cannot afford education, especially when they reach college, and we cannot waste them, so we will study to propose additional budget for our scholarship program,” she said.

A scholar receives an monthly allowance worth P1,000 to P1,500 and his or her tuition fee is paid for by the city government.

To date, the city has over 400 scholars.

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