The provincial government said on Tuesday it has distributed almost PHP5 million in educational assistance to some 1,267 “maintainer scholars” from Nov. 13 to 20.
In an interview, Governor Hermilando Mandanas said his administration is presently helping pay for the studies of over 44,000 Batangueño scholars, and the province has among the highest if not the highest funding set aside for educational assistance in the country.
He revealed that every year since 2020, the provincial government has been able to help around 15,000 students from its pool of maintainer scholars graduate.
Maintainer scholars are students whose educational expenses are subsidized by the provincial government.
“The province maintains its commitment to deliver the services that the locals need in their day-to-day living. I am positive that the improvement of the services in the local level will uplift the integrity of Filipinos and secure a better future for the youth,” he told the Philippine News Agency.
Meanwhile, since last week, senior citizens, persons with disability (PWD), child development workers (CDW), barangay nutrition scholars (BNS) and barangay health workers (BHW) have started to receive their honorarium, in addition to their Christmas gifts and raffle prizes, said Mandanas.
The capitol has also distributed new laptops and other equipment to barangay health officials.
Mandanas said it has also granted provincial service incentives to retired barangay functionaries and financial and material assistance to various barangay projects.
He said the provincial government can bankroll these additional expenses, thanks to additional funds made available to it by the Supreme Court’s Mandanas-Garcia ruling.
Mandanas, who is also the Calabarzon’s Regional Development Council (RDC) chairperson, shared that the ruling has strengthened the local government’s capacity to respond to the needs of its people by allocating a bigger share of taxes collected by national government agencies.
Meanwhile, Mandanas was recognized on Monday as the “Man of the Year” at the Asia Leaders Awards 2023 held at the Manila Hotel. (PNA)