The 2007 Grand Reunion officially ended on Aug 18. Alumni from Australia, Philippines, Canada and many parts of USA attended the dinner-dance at Rennaisance Hotel in Niagara Falls, Canada. There were over 120 attendees who enjoyed the evening of fun, friendship and food. It was a week-long celebration that included a bus excursion to the beautiful cities of Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec. A number of visiting alumni commented that this is the best reunion they have attended. Everyone surely agrees it was a big success.
The next grand reunion in 2009 will be hosted by Batch 68 and other alumni based in Manila.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
PLM Scholarship
PLM scholarship in Toronto bears fruitage; it’s a big success (By Willie Jose)
“Generosity has never impoverished the giver; it has enriched the lives
of those who have practiced it”, - US President Dwight Eisenhower
For 60 cents a day, -- that’s almost half the cost of one small cup of coffee at Tim Horton’s-- one can bring an immeasurable happiness to the poor but intellectually gifted scholars studying at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) Most of these students could hardly afford even the most basic of what students really need: a little money for their transport fare and snacks.
Take the case of Christine, a 3rd year social work student whose simple wish in life is just to be able to finish her course. She said “my father is working as a contractual staff at a company while my mother is a plain housewife. I have two younger sisters. Last semester I had great difficulty in sustaining my education for we are facing deep financial crisis, which is beyond our control.”
“I really want to finish my studies and be a social worker someday, to be of help to those people which have cases similar to mine,” she said. Her general average school grade is 1.6.
“My parents were really happy to know that I was able to be a part of the alumni scholarship program and they wish to extend their gratitude for your help Sir and Ma’am. We know that this would be a really a big help for my studies as well as for my family” Christine said.
Christine is one of the beneficiaries of the on-going scholarship program launched by the PLM alumni in Toronto in 1994. In that year, these alumni had only 2 students under their wings because they were still trying to sort out the mechanics of the scholarship program.
Melissa, also a recipient of the program—she graduated recently from the PLM College of nursing—has written her benefactor, saying “Ma’am Annie, thanks for the support you have been giving me. I helped me a lot... I graduated cum laude. It had been a wonderful experience; I hope that you had been there to witness my graduation.” Two months after writing this letter, Melissa placed 12th in the nursing board exams. She is currently working in one of the big hospitals in Manila.
Annie Jose, her sister Victoria and their friend Rosita—though they are not PLM alumnae--—have been touched by the plight of these indigent scholars, and decided to adopt their own scholars..
Another non-PLM alumna, Leah, the daughter of Ping and Danny Nacua, has been giving support to a scholar who is taking up chemical engineering. Leah, herself a chemical engineer, is a graduate of the University of Waterloo.
Since 1994, the PLM alumni Association (Toronto chapter) has helped more than a hundred of these needy students and currently the group has 60 students under its program.
These students’ parents mostly come from the marginalized sector of society--farmers, tailors, security guards, vendors, tricycle drivers—people who have to eke out a living just to survive. They live at the edge, so to speak. Some students have parents who already deceased, or separated, while the others have parents who are both jobless.
Most of their parents are earning an average of P5, 000/month (US100), barely enough to sustain their families. A number of these students have to live with their relatives to get help. Others have to rely on the support of their older brothers and sisters. A number of them live in squatter’s areas in the metropolis and one student family is said to be living in the Chinese cemetery compound.
The former dean of the PLM Arts and Sciences, Dean Dolores Liwag is coordinating the scholarship project in Manila. She has five professors as members of the screening committee. And this committee is making sure that applicants in the scholarship program are really indigent and so in some cases they have to visit the student’s house to check his economic status.”
In 1999, Liwag visited Toronto and she appealed to the alumni if they could possibly increase their support; telling them that there were so many students applying the scholarship .And knowing that their mode of raising the scholarship funds would not be enough to help more students, they finally decided that individually they had to adopt their own scholars in addition to the group’s common scholars.
Where do they get their funding?
Ms. Chit Julian, the committee head of the PLM scholarship in Toronto said “we’ve been raising funds through membership fees of Cdn $60/year, holding bowling tournaments, garage sales and casino tour.”
“We at PLM Canada vow to continue with the project. We had very needy students in desperate circumstances but determined to get a degree. Their letters speak of how much the amount we sent them helped them, gave them hope, made their parent feel relieved,” Julian said.
The group is sending Cdn $ 100 per student/semester and that means a total of Cdn $ 200 a year to cover their transport fare, snacks and school materials. The group admits that this amount is not big but just enough to tide these students over. The money is sent to the Philippines door-to-door and the Dean Liwag has to reply ASAP of the receipt of the funds and the progress of the project.” We also asked that the students confirm receipt of funds by way of letter to us “Julian said.
“ Aside from the alumni, some of their relatives and friends have joined in , realizing that the scholarship is more than a good idea; it is a vision, a good cause in which everybody could chip in to help alleviate our country’s poverty,” . Rey Galvez said.
“We are giving these students hope and a chance to succeed in life and in that way they could be productive citizens of the Philippines,” Galvez added..
Having been given the privilege to study free at the Pamantasan, these alumni are more determined than ever to continue with their scholarship program that has produced hundreds of professionals who are now working in various fields of endeavor.
They also take pride in the fact that this scholarship which they launched 13 years ago in Toronto has inspired other alumni in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Australia to set up their own scholarship programs.
.
For them, this scholarship is their way of paying back their alma mater for whatever success they have in life courtesy of the PLM free education program. This scholarship is closest to their hearts because it’s an expression of their love As their former school President Benito F. Reyes has said,” love is one great moment without self—there is no self to feed, there’s no self to nurture and there’s no self to nourish” So in launching this program, these alumni don’t expect anything in return.
“Generosity has never impoverished the giver; it has enriched the lives
of those who have practiced it”, - US President Dwight Eisenhower
For 60 cents a day, -- that’s almost half the cost of one small cup of coffee at Tim Horton’s-- one can bring an immeasurable happiness to the poor but intellectually gifted scholars studying at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) Most of these students could hardly afford even the most basic of what students really need: a little money for their transport fare and snacks.
Take the case of Christine, a 3rd year social work student whose simple wish in life is just to be able to finish her course. She said “my father is working as a contractual staff at a company while my mother is a plain housewife. I have two younger sisters. Last semester I had great difficulty in sustaining my education for we are facing deep financial crisis, which is beyond our control.”
“I really want to finish my studies and be a social worker someday, to be of help to those people which have cases similar to mine,” she said. Her general average school grade is 1.6.
“My parents were really happy to know that I was able to be a part of the alumni scholarship program and they wish to extend their gratitude for your help Sir and Ma’am. We know that this would be a really a big help for my studies as well as for my family” Christine said.
Christine is one of the beneficiaries of the on-going scholarship program launched by the PLM alumni in Toronto in 1994. In that year, these alumni had only 2 students under their wings because they were still trying to sort out the mechanics of the scholarship program.
Melissa, also a recipient of the program—she graduated recently from the PLM College of nursing—has written her benefactor, saying “Ma’am Annie, thanks for the support you have been giving me. I helped me a lot... I graduated cum laude. It had been a wonderful experience; I hope that you had been there to witness my graduation.” Two months after writing this letter, Melissa placed 12th in the nursing board exams. She is currently working in one of the big hospitals in Manila.
Annie Jose, her sister Victoria and their friend Rosita—though they are not PLM alumnae--—have been touched by the plight of these indigent scholars, and decided to adopt their own scholars..
Another non-PLM alumna, Leah, the daughter of Ping and Danny Nacua, has been giving support to a scholar who is taking up chemical engineering. Leah, herself a chemical engineer, is a graduate of the University of Waterloo.
Since 1994, the PLM alumni Association (Toronto chapter) has helped more than a hundred of these needy students and currently the group has 60 students under its program.
These students’ parents mostly come from the marginalized sector of society--farmers, tailors, security guards, vendors, tricycle drivers—people who have to eke out a living just to survive. They live at the edge, so to speak. Some students have parents who already deceased, or separated, while the others have parents who are both jobless.
Most of their parents are earning an average of P5, 000/month (US100), barely enough to sustain their families. A number of these students have to live with their relatives to get help. Others have to rely on the support of their older brothers and sisters. A number of them live in squatter’s areas in the metropolis and one student family is said to be living in the Chinese cemetery compound.
The former dean of the PLM Arts and Sciences, Dean Dolores Liwag is coordinating the scholarship project in Manila. She has five professors as members of the screening committee. And this committee is making sure that applicants in the scholarship program are really indigent and so in some cases they have to visit the student’s house to check his economic status.”
In 1999, Liwag visited Toronto and she appealed to the alumni if they could possibly increase their support; telling them that there were so many students applying the scholarship .And knowing that their mode of raising the scholarship funds would not be enough to help more students, they finally decided that individually they had to adopt their own scholars in addition to the group’s common scholars.
Where do they get their funding?
Ms. Chit Julian, the committee head of the PLM scholarship in Toronto said “we’ve been raising funds through membership fees of Cdn $60/year, holding bowling tournaments, garage sales and casino tour.”
“We at PLM Canada vow to continue with the project. We had very needy students in desperate circumstances but determined to get a degree. Their letters speak of how much the amount we sent them helped them, gave them hope, made their parent feel relieved,” Julian said.
The group is sending Cdn $ 100 per student/semester and that means a total of Cdn $ 200 a year to cover their transport fare, snacks and school materials. The group admits that this amount is not big but just enough to tide these students over. The money is sent to the Philippines door-to-door and the Dean Liwag has to reply ASAP of the receipt of the funds and the progress of the project.” We also asked that the students confirm receipt of funds by way of letter to us “Julian said.
“ Aside from the alumni, some of their relatives and friends have joined in , realizing that the scholarship is more than a good idea; it is a vision, a good cause in which everybody could chip in to help alleviate our country’s poverty,” . Rey Galvez said.
“We are giving these students hope and a chance to succeed in life and in that way they could be productive citizens of the Philippines,” Galvez added..
Having been given the privilege to study free at the Pamantasan, these alumni are more determined than ever to continue with their scholarship program that has produced hundreds of professionals who are now working in various fields of endeavor.
They also take pride in the fact that this scholarship which they launched 13 years ago in Toronto has inspired other alumni in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Australia to set up their own scholarship programs.
.
For them, this scholarship is their way of paying back their alma mater for whatever success they have in life courtesy of the PLM free education program. This scholarship is closest to their hearts because it’s an expression of their love As their former school President Benito F. Reyes has said,” love is one great moment without self—there is no self to feed, there’s no self to nurture and there’s no self to nourish” So in launching this program, these alumni don’t expect anything in return.
PLM alumni (Canada chapter) host reunion
PLM alumni host reunion
to mark school’s 40th year
The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila Alumni Association (PLMAA) based in Toronto is hosting an international grand reunion in August to commemorate its school’s 40th anniversary this year.
The group is inviting all alumni to come and join the four-day affair to meet up and renew their ties with their former classmates and schoolmates in reminiscing their fond memories and, dreams which have been locked for decades...
Danny Nacua, one of the organizers, said they are expecting a big turnout of alumni coming over because a number of PLMers in Australia, San Francisco, Texas, New York and the Philippines have already signified their willingness to attend this once-in-a-lifetime gathering.
Although , the reunion is still months away, the organizers are already gearing up for the coming busy months preparing the event’s activities —ballroom dancing, bus tour, hotel bookings, picnics-- to insure the joyful and memorable stay of those alumni attending the gathering which will kick off with the holding of a dinner- dance party at the Renaissance Hotel in Niagara Falls on August 12.
The Bayanihan spirit—a well-known Filipino kind of hospitality-- is well alive among the alumni-hosts, Nacua said , adding that “ since many of us have decided to accommodate and welcome some of our guests and friends in our own homes, particularly those coming from far-away places..’’ .
“Paano tayo noon?”—Kaibigan, kaklase’t kaeskuwela, sama-sama nating gunitain ang masasayang alaala at pagsasamamahan sa nakalipas na apat na dekada,” the group’s flyer says.
The scheduled fun-filled activities are the tour of Niagara Falls and its environs, and dinner at the Starwalk in Mississauga on Aug. 13; picnic at Centennial Park, Toronto and dinner at Ellen’s restaurant, Aug. 14 and a bus tour to Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City, Aug. 15.
“ We know that there will be a never-ending kamustahan and kuwentuhan during the reunion but to add a little dose of nostalgia, we are holding an exhibit of old photos, books, uniforms, souvenirs and other memorabilia that will surely jog our memories, sort of touring the memory lane, thereby making this affair a truly memorable one,” Nacua said. .
At present, the PLMAA has an on-going projects such as the scholarship program—now on its 12th year—benefiting hundreds of poor and talented students, and the magazine- book drives..
For more information, please call ; Ping Nacua, 416-439-5427 and Beth Lacanlale Romero, 416-283-1851 --WJ
……. .
to mark school’s 40th year
The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila Alumni Association (PLMAA) based in Toronto is hosting an international grand reunion in August to commemorate its school’s 40th anniversary this year.
The group is inviting all alumni to come and join the four-day affair to meet up and renew their ties with their former classmates and schoolmates in reminiscing their fond memories and, dreams which have been locked for decades...
Danny Nacua, one of the organizers, said they are expecting a big turnout of alumni coming over because a number of PLMers in Australia, San Francisco, Texas, New York and the Philippines have already signified their willingness to attend this once-in-a-lifetime gathering.
Although , the reunion is still months away, the organizers are already gearing up for the coming busy months preparing the event’s activities —ballroom dancing, bus tour, hotel bookings, picnics-- to insure the joyful and memorable stay of those alumni attending the gathering which will kick off with the holding of a dinner- dance party at the Renaissance Hotel in Niagara Falls on August 12.
The Bayanihan spirit—a well-known Filipino kind of hospitality-- is well alive among the alumni-hosts, Nacua said , adding that “ since many of us have decided to accommodate and welcome some of our guests and friends in our own homes, particularly those coming from far-away places..’’ .
“Paano tayo noon?”—Kaibigan, kaklase’t kaeskuwela, sama-sama nating gunitain ang masasayang alaala at pagsasamamahan sa nakalipas na apat na dekada,” the group’s flyer says.
The scheduled fun-filled activities are the tour of Niagara Falls and its environs, and dinner at the Starwalk in Mississauga on Aug. 13; picnic at Centennial Park, Toronto and dinner at Ellen’s restaurant, Aug. 14 and a bus tour to Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City, Aug. 15.
“ We know that there will be a never-ending kamustahan and kuwentuhan during the reunion but to add a little dose of nostalgia, we are holding an exhibit of old photos, books, uniforms, souvenirs and other memorabilia that will surely jog our memories, sort of touring the memory lane, thereby making this affair a truly memorable one,” Nacua said. .
At present, the PLMAA has an on-going projects such as the scholarship program—now on its 12th year—benefiting hundreds of poor and talented students, and the magazine- book drives..
For more information, please call ; Ping Nacua, 416-439-5427 and Beth Lacanlale Romero, 416-283-1851 --WJ
……. .
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