Taguig City Mayor Lino S. Cayetano directed the Taguig Scholarship Office and the Barangay Affairs Office to distribute the PHP5,000 Special Emergency Assistance to Scholars (SEAS) starting April 20, 2020 to help its scholars and their families amidst the enhanced community quarantine implemented to contain the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
The SEAS will cover about 25,000 scholars under the City Scholarship Programs such as the Lifeline Assistance for Neighbors In-need (LANI) Scholarship Program, the Taguig City University (TCU) Educational Assistance Allowance, and the Taguig Learners Certificate (TLC) Scholarship Program.
“This is another proactive measure to expand the assistance we give to our residents,” Cayetano said. “By designing a support program around our scholars, we affirm our commitment to the well-being of our young people even in extraordinarily difficult times.”
The cash assistance will benefit the families of the scholars or up to 125,000 individuals.
The relief fund hopes to help the families of the scholars and in the spirit of bayanihan, also extend assistance to those people they know who are in need.
The cash assistance is separate from other relief programs of Taguig, such as the livelihood assistance for public transport drivers, the “stay-at-home” food and nonfood packs, and the anti-Covid kits.
“Taguig has been known to the country for its hallmarks in assisting learners in achieving their dreams. We want to make sure that this love for learning is resilient even to a crisis,” he said.
Since it started in 2011 through the efforts of then Senator and now House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and former Taguig City Mayor and now Rep. Lani Cayetano, Taguig’s comprehensive scholarship program has benefited more than 55,000 scholars in more than 200 colleges and universities.
More than 8,000 scholars are now degree holders, including 25 with doctorate degrees and 328 with masters degree. Among these degree holders are 2,691 licensed professionals comprised of engineers, teachers, nurses, accountants, psychometricians, criminologists, lawyers, architects and medical doctors.