TACLOBAN CITY -The national government has already released P172.34 million educational assistance to college students in Eastern Visayas affected by super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ in 2013.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is eyeing to complete the release of P227.75 million financial aid meant for 45,551 identified students before the year ends.
Each student will receive P5,000 assistance from the central government as approved by CHED on Feb. 14, 2017.
Narciso Candiza, CHED regional office education program specialist here, said on Wednesday the 60 state-run and private colleges started releasing the money since last week of October.
“Qualified to receive the financial assistance are victims of super typhoon Yolanda who are enrolled in higher education institutions during the second semester of the school year 2016-2017,” Candiza said.
Funding for the program is from the budget of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.
CHED has been releasing checks to higher learning institutions since last week of October this year. Schools disbursed the cash assistance to identified beneficiaries.
Based on the guideline, the schools submitted the master list of students together with the billing and certificate of enrollment to CHED regional office. After validation, the field office sent the list to the CHED central office for funding.
The financial aid covers Yolanda-hit areas in Eastern, Central and Western Visayas, and some parts of Southwestern Tagalog region.
Super typhoon Yolanda is the deadliest typhoon in the Philippines on record, killing at least 6,300 people and displaced more than a million of the population in central part of the country when it made landfall on Nov. 8, 2013.
(SARWELL Q.MENIANO/PNA)
