Eighty PAFCPIC scholars received their stipend for the first semester of the academic year 2023-2024 at the Main AVR on Friday morning (October 27).
The Philippine Army Finance Center Producers Integrated Cooperative sponsors scholars from Tarlac State University who are indigents, indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities.
According to Dr. Elsie Canlas, Scholarship and Financial Unit Head, former scholar Mary Joyce Domingo, now a Certified Public Accountant, was granted financial assistance by the PAFCPIC after her graduation, intended for her review and board exam.
On the other hand, Anesia Garibeles, 50, shared how the PAFCPIC scholarship helped Raymond, her firstborn, who is struggling with polio.
Anesia said her husband, Richard, 53, a farmer, has high hopes for their son. She said her son even shares the tablet he received from PAFCPIC with his younger siblings whenever they study online. Also, the monthly payment for their internet connection comes from the stipend.
Raymond, a fourth-year College of Education student, currently a practice teacher at Victoria National High School, dreams of passing the Licensure Examination for Teachers and eventually providing a new home for his family. He needs to stretch his stipend for an entire semester and budget his allowance for fare from Victoria town to Lucinda Campus in Tarlac City.
According to Raymond, his condition is not a deterrent to finishing his studies. He only needs to walk carefully and wear lightweight shoes. He even brings his lunch, water, and snacks so that he will not walk to and from the stores inside the campus and will not be challenged to take the stairs of their college's building.
“Masipag siyang mag-aral kaya hindi niya sinasayang 'yung pagkakataon. Ayaw na rin naman daw kasi nilang magsaka, gusto niya at nung kapatid niya na maging teacher. Sobrang malaki 'yung pasasalamat namin na nabigyan siya (ng scholarship). Atsaka kahit may polio siya, pinapatunayan niya na kayang-kaya niya. Napakamaintindihin niyang anak sa sitwasyon namin ngayon,” his mother, Anesia, said in an interview.
Another PAFCPIC scholar from CoEd, Eloisa Martin, a second-year BSEd Filipino student, is an IP from the Abelling Tribe of Maamot, San Jose.
Martin was initially accepted at TSU last year under the BSEd Mathematics program. According to her, she pleaded with PAFCPIC to allow her to shift to a program she wants, noting that BSEd Filipino will give her the platform to teach a subject that her Aeta brothers and sisters would need most.
In an interview, Martin said she allocates a portion of her stipend for her boarding house and allowance and shares some with her siblings who are still studying. She added that her stipend also helps with their family's daily expenses since her parents, a housewife and a construction worker, are trying their best to make ends meet.
She received her stipend on her birthday, yet she opted to celebrate once she finished her degree and landed a job.
PAFCPIC scholars usually receive a 6,000-peso monthly allowance, while IPs receive a higher amount of 7,000 pesos to cover their transportation expenses since they reside in remote places in the province.
Aside from their monthly allowance, their scholarship also entails a 5,000-peso book allowance, 3,000-peso uniform allowance, and a 5,000-peso cash gift, provided they graduate on time.
Honor graduates among the scholars also benefit from cash incentives amounting to 15,000 pesos for summa cum laude, 10,000 pesos for magna cum laude, and 5,000 pesos for cum laude. (jlmm-OPA)
