Philex grants scholarship for grad studies, law, medicine

Philex Mining Corp. is set to grant 15 scholarships for grad studies, including law and medicine, and provide financial assistance to 60 undergraduates in Baguio City and Benguet this academic year, on top of its current scholars in elementary, high school, college, technical/vocational (techvoc) courses, and a non-formal education program.

Feliciano Diso Jr., manager for community relations (comrel) at Philex Mining’s Padcal operations, hosted by Tuba and Itogon towns, revealed this as he said that about 80 students, 21 of whom had been provided subsidies while the rest were on full scholarship, were set to march for graduation in March and April at their respective schools in Baguio City and Benguet.

“Helping the poor but deserving students (in our host and neighboring communities) attain their dream of having a better life through education is one of our commitments in line with our corporate social responsibility, or CSR,” he added. “Padcal also has various programs on health, livelihood, and public infrastructure, as well as on environmental protection.”

Besides law and medicine, the AY 2014’15 scholarship for graduate students include those pursuing or are planning to take up master’s and doctoral degrees that cover business administration, cooperative management, organic farming, and community development, according to Chris Cheno, a section head at ComRel. He also said that the new program on the financial assistance to college students involves a stipend of P10,000 per scholar per semester/trimester.

In the meantime, Philex Mining has allotted 50 slots for the school dropouts in Baguio City and Benguet who now want to finish their elementary and high school studies through the Alternative Learning System (ALS), a ladderized, modular nonformal education program devised by the Department of Education and being supported by Padcal Mines.

The scholarship for undergrad students has been made possible under Padcal’s College Educational Assistance (CEA) project, which was created through Philex Mining’s Social Development and Management Program (SDMP). The company also fully subsidizes the education of students at the Philex Mines Elementary School (PMES), in Sitio Padcal, Brgy. Camp 3, Tuba, and that of most of the students at the Saint Louis High School (SLHS)-Philex, also in the same sitio.

Cheno said that nine CEA scholars have just finished their degrees while 43 students had completed the ALS program last year, and 16 have just graduated from various tech-voc courses. He added that at least 30 students graduated from PMES recently while another 30 students, 21 of whom were recipients of subsidies and nine were on full scholarship, finished their senior year at SLHS-Philex last month.

Philex Mining also has scholars at the Twin Peaks National High School, in Barangay Twin Peaks, Tuba, and the Ampucao National High School (ANHS), in Barangay Ampucao, Itogon. These scholars, eight of whom have just finished their secondary studies, hail from Barangay Camp 3 (in Tuba), one of Padcal’s two host barangays (the other being Ampucao).

Padcal’s neighboring barangays are Camp 1 and Ansagan (both in Tuba) and Dalupirip (in Itogon), where Philex Mining also extends help through its various SDMP projects. When combined, these host and neighboring barangays are called outlying communities.

Diso said in an earlier statement that Padcal has a budget of P23.9 million, or a total of P26.1 million to include the P2.2 million carried over from 2013, for this year’s projects on education. This is part of SDMP’s 2014 budget of P86.5 million, or P76.1 million plus a carry over of P10.4 million from last year.