NEWS | Queen Lormainne V. Fulong, BSA
University of La Salette, Inc., as one of the colleges and universities that implement Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) program of the Commission on Higher Education, with the assistance of the Registrar’s Office, headed by Aileen Bayang, the TES coordinator, and its support staff, distributed the fund to its 1,284 beneficiaries, started on May 21 until June 3, 2020 at the ULS gymnasium.
The duration lasted for ten days in which the mode of distribution was by batch.
There were 150 students, together with their parents, who came to school each day to claim their subsidy while bringing school identification card for the students and any valid ID for the guardian.
The said distribution was pursuant to UniFAST Board Resolution 2020-007, in which the student-grantees shall be entitled to a maximum of Php 60,000.00 or Php 30,000.00 grant per semester.
They needed to present the required documents to claim half of the maximum amount of the subsidy.Accounting staff also explained to the students why Php 10,000.00 was deducted from the subsidy for settlement of balances and early payments.
In view of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), general community quarantine pass was also a necessity upon entering the university premises.
In addition, grantees and their guardians were obliged to wear mask and observe social distancing during the undertaking.
Senior high school gate was unlocked to provide a way for those who came.
For safety and security of everyone who was involved, posting or any form of publicizing the distribution of the TES in social media was prohibited.
One of the grantees, George Miguel Sillos, a fifth year student of BS Civil Engineering, pointed out the TES’s benefits to him and to his fellow students who needed to take online reviews as their preparation for board examination.
“Malaking tulong talaga ‘yung TES kasi katulad ngayon, nag-enroll kami sa review centers na nag-ooffer ng online classes. Iyong nakuha naming pera, iyon na ‘yung pinambayad namin. ‘Yun din ang nagagamit namin sa tuwing may kakailanganin kami (TES was really a great help to us especially now that we are enrolled at review centers that offer online classes. We already used the fund to pay for our enrollment. We also use it to provide other needs),” he said in an online interview.
“Bawas-gastos para sa mga nagpapaaral sa amin. Tsaka at least mayroon kaming naitatabing pera kung sakaling magkaroon ng emergency (It lessens the expenses of those people who finance our studies. And at least we have allotted money if ever an emergency will occur),” he added.