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Beyond Education: Metrobank Foundation Scholars Pay It Forward
Education is deemed very important in people’s lives, across various cultures. For many, it serves as their passport to a bright future and to a better living condition. But more than that, education can also be one of the ways in which the world can be a better place to live in, as Marian Wright Edelman, an American advocate of children’s rights, once said, “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.”
  With education as one of its main thrusts, the Metrobank Foundation, Inc., has its College Scholarship Program (CSP) that continues to provide assistance to financially-incapable but deserving students. More than ensuring the academic growth of the scholar by providing 100% coverage of tuition and other fees, and a semestral allowance, the Foundation is also helping the students build their character through encouraging them to participate in community projects that benefit the less fortunate.
One of the Foundation’s class 2009 scholars, Abigail Lorraine Chua, a BS Management Engineering major who graduated cum laude from the Ateneo de Manila University, joined an immersion on Bgy. Talisay, Calatagan, Batangas, where her group proposed a project that would benefit the fisher folk in the area. It was in this immersion that she realized how much happiness and contentment the poor have despite of the challenges that they go through in life. “They lead a simple life, yet their smiles and laughter bubble from hearts that are contented with God’s blessings,” she shared.
Reginald Tamsi, a BS
Accountancy graduate of the Negros Oriental State University, also one of this
year’s graduate scholars, used to be involved in teaching those in the rural
areas. “Every weekend, we would go to their places and teach them how to write
and read.” A magna cum laude graduate, Reginald said that he
found a sense of fulfillment in teaching the poor, most especially because the
people that they taught were of different ages. “It is a great feeling when you
make them read and write,” he continued.
“To lead the people, walk behind them,” a quotation from Lao Tze, was one of the most important lessons, Aissa Marie Ang, an AB Development Studies major of the Ateneo de Manila, learned in the numerous community projects that she had been involved with. Among her community involvements included working for the benefit of the indigenous peoples. She is also an advocate of the environment, which is reflected in her memberships in environmental groups such as the Watershed Management Youth Council of Davao City and the Environmental Science Society. She plans to enrich her involvement in her advocacy through promoting and creating awareness for her projects in her weekly column in Sun Star Davao, and her occasional appearances in television and radio programs.
As they graduate, the class 2009 scholars, composed of 47 students from various parts of the country, are gathered together on April 24 and 25 for the Graduates’ Forum, an annual assembly of the Foundation’s graduate scholars where they get to meet and interact with their fellow scholars as well as their benefactors.
Since 1995, the CSP has been assisting outstanding students in their college education. Over the years, it has produced a total of 721 graduates, together with its partner institutions and schools.
“The College Scholarship Program is the Metrobank Foundation’s way of giving hope to the future of our nation,” said Metrobank Foundation president Aniceto M. Sobrepeña. “Our College Scholarship Program is unique because we do not just encourage them to excel academically, rather, we also teach them to be good members of the society by engaging in community projects. We instill in them the importance of giving back and paying it forward, because this is the same principle our Chairman, Dr. George S.K. Ty, lives by,” he further explained.
The Metrobank Foundation continues to produce responsible citizens as new batch of scholars graduate every year. Abigail Lorraine Chua proves to be one of them. As early as now, she already has plans on how she will share the gift of education that she has received. “I would like to follow the good example of my benefactor, by paying it forward and setting aside a part of my income as contribution and donation to a scholarship endowment fund. Education, I believe is very much crucial to the future of the country and I would like to let the underprivileged understand its value as well,” she stated.
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The UST architecture graduates under the MBFI-Boysen Paint College Scholarship Program present their gift of gratitude to the senior officers of Metrobank and the Metrobank Foundation, a collage of their thesis projects.
(From left: Metrobank Foundation president Aniceto M. Sobrepeña, Federal Land president and Toyota Motor Philippines vice chairman Alfred Ty, Metrobank Foundation vice chairman Dr. Placido Mapa, Jr., and Metrobank Foundation executive vice president Elvira Ong-Chan) |
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The UST architecture graduates under the MBFI-Boysen Paint College Scholarship Program present their gift of gratitude to the senior officers of Metrobank and the Metrobank Foundation, a collage of their thesis projects.
(From left: Metrobank Foundation president Aniceto M. Sobrepeña, Federal Land president and Toyota Motor Philippines vice chairman Alfred Ty, Metrobank Foundation vice chairman Dr. Placido Mapa, Jr., and Metrobank Foundation executive vice president Elvira Ong-Chan) |
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Manuel Hermano, an Architecture graduate from UST presents the various activities he has been involved with related to environment, architecture, youth empowerment, even “greening” the judiciaries, lawyers, and law students, among others, in partnership with regional and national organizations. He received the ‘Metrobank Scroll of Outstanding Scholastic Achievement’ for being an advocate of the environment and sustainable development. |
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Manuel Hermano, an Architecture graduate from UST presents the various activities he has been involved with related to environment, architecture, youth empowerment, even “greening” the judiciaries, lawyers, and law students, among others, in partnership with regional and national organizations. He received the ‘Metrobank Scroll of Outstanding Scholastic Achievement’ for being an advocate of the environment and sustainable development. |
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The Metrobank Foundation is the corporate social responsibly arm of the Metrobank Group of Companies. Over the last 28 years, it has promoted a culture of excellence among Filipinos through its various programs notably the Search for Outstanding Teachers, the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence, The Outstanding Philippine Soldier, Country's Outstanding Policemen in Service, the Metrobank Math Challenge, and College Scholarship Program. The Foundation also has a grants program that assists NGOs and government in the fields of education, healthcare, and the arts. Metrobank Foundation celebrates Filipino excellence and presents wellsprings of hope in the future of our nation. |
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