PLM Receives P2.4M in Scholarship Grants from the Rotary Club of Manila

On June 1, 2018 – the Rotary Club of Manila (RCM) will mark its centennial. The club organized in 1919 by businessman Leon Lambert with the help of the Chicago and Seattle Rotary, had as its founding members 38 charter members to include 35 Americans, two Filipinos and 1 Chinese. It was the first and oldest Rotary Club in Asia to be established and Lambert was its first president. The Rotary’s stated purpose is to “bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and advance goodwill and peace around the world.”

In the runup to its 100th anniversary, the RCM – in its continuing concern and commitment to an educational system that will spur the country’s progress and social development - gifted one hundred of the city’s underprivileged but deserving students with scholarship grants to put them on track. Fifty of these students will be selected from among the graduating students of Manila’s premier university – The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM). To qualify, they must be able to maintain a general weighted average of 2 or 85% or its equivalent for the two semesters of school year 2018-2019 and must have the drive to finish his/her course to land a job where they can do the most good for their community.

Each of the fifty PLM scholars will receive financial assistance in the amount of 24,000 per semester to cover expenses that include miscellaneous fees and the purchase of books. The total RCM grant is P1.2M per semester or P2.4M for the entire school year. A Memorandum of Agreement to this effect was signed between Incoming RCM President Jesus M. Pineda, Jr. and PLM President Dr. Ma. Leonora V. De Jesus before Manila City Mayor Joseph Estrada Wednesday. Also at the signing were RCM and PLM officers led by Outgoing RCM President Jimmie Policarpio, Jr., PLM EVP Jose Silerio, RCM Directors Carl Reyes, Albert Alday and Issam Eldebs, PLM VPs Marlo de la Cruz and Randy Nunez, RCM Treasurer Nicanor Villasenor III, Asst Secretary Renato Policarpio and Board Legal Adviser Amado Valdez. RCM Scholarship Committee Chair and Past VP Roilo Golez and Co-Chairman Romeo Nones and PLM VP for Public Affairs Kelly Vergel de Dios signed the MOA as witnesses.

Dr. De Jesus described the RCM grant as the most generous the University has received to date. The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila counts among the country’s top five universities with licensure-exam performance of 98 to a hundred percent, its College of Law ranked first by the Legal Education Board, its College of Medicine currently ranked first and is identified by Jobstreet as one of five universities whose graduates employers most prefer to hire.

Post-event release by Kelly B. Vergel de Dios, 4-26-18 (PLM Public Affairs). Photo credits: Jonathan Flores, PLM Public Affairs