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.
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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.