BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A total of 56 Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, received P420,000 worth of educational assistance on Tuesday.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Rep. Gerardo Valmayor, Jr. assisted by Don Salvador Benedicto Mayor Marxlen Dela Cruz and Negros Occidental Scholarship Program (NOSP) Division head, Karen Dinsay, led the distribution of cash assistance to IPs enrolled in elementary and high school at the covered court of Brgy. Bagong Silang in Don Salvador Benedicto.
Dinsay said that each IP student received P7,500 each as allowance for the school year, under the scholarship category, Educational Assistance for IP’s Basic Education.
Lacson said that the grantees must study diligently because the Provincial Government will continue to support them.
He advised the parents to encourage their children to study well so that they can reach their dreams.
Lacson said that the provincial government increased the number of IP scholarship grantees belonging to Ati, Ata and Bukidnon tribes, from 80 to 100 in previous years.
He added he hopes to see an IP doctor someday.
When the IP community asked to help them acquire a WiFi connection, Lacson, Valmayor and Dela Cruz pledged to provide a one-time installation of WiFi connection to be used by students for their online classes.
Valmayor, who thanked Lacson for providing scholarship grants to the IPs, advised the beneficiaries to study well, in order to become productive citizens.
For the month of August to September of this year, a total of 297 IPs in different towns and cities of Negros Occidental received their allowances, amounting to P2,227,500, according to Dinsay.*
