2,500 Petron scholars begin new school year

MANILA, Philippines - As school year 2014-2015 opened, some 2,500 children and youth from all over the country trooped to their classrooms to enjoy the gift of education as scholars of Tulong Aral ng Petron (TAP). For some, this is their initial entry into formal schooling; for others, this will be a continuation of their journey of learning. But for all of them, this is a chance to secure a better future.

Quite fittingly, TAP stems from Petron Corp’s social advocacy of fueling HOPE, or helping overcome poverty through education. Since 2002, this program has sent over 8,500 children in Metro Manila and Mindanao to school and helped more than 5,000 children finish elementary and high school. At the end of the last school year, TAP produced a total of 793 elementary and high school graduates, as well as two from college level.

“Tulong Aral ng Petron reaffirms our commitment to nation-building by ensuring that thousands of Filipino children from marginalized families receive basic education and secure a better future,” said Petron chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang. “Our hope is that they stay in school, excel in their studies, and eventually graduate from college. And we look forward to the near future when we welcome them back not as scholars but as colleagues in the Petron organization.”

This is a source of inspiration for children like 16-year-old Adrian Nabus of Navotas. His father is the lone breadwinner, driving a pedicab everyday to sustain five children. Despite their poverty, he acknowledges the sacrifices of his parents to send him to school. “Kahit ‘di ninyo sabihin sa akin na wala tayong pera, alam ko po iyon. Pero kinabukasan bago po ako pumasok, mayroon po kayong inaabot sa aking baon. Kahit po may sakit kayo, pumapasok kayo para matugunan ang aming pangangalian (Even if you don’t tell me that we don’t have money, I know. But before I go to school the following day, you manage to give me money for school. Even when you’re sick, you go to work to support all of us.)” A TAP scholar since Grade 1, Nabus was determined to make this gift of education a vehicle to better their lives.

When he graduated as valedictorian from Tangos High School, Nabus credited Tulong Aral ng Petron for opening new windows of opportunities. Nabus is now a TAP scholar at the Adamson University taking up Mechanical Engineering.

Petron’s anchor program on education is in partnership with the Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, the different local government units, World Vision, and Philippine Business for Social Progress.

Among the company’s other major initiatives on education are the Petron Schools. Since 2002, Petron has built and repaired over 1,600 classrooms. It is also building 39 pre-school classrooms in support of AGAPP (Aklat, Gabay, Aruga Tungo sa Pag-angat at Pag-asa) program. Together with DepEd and USAID, Petron is helping implement BASA PILIPINAS, which aims to improve reading proficiency skills of 1 million early grades students in the Ilocos Region and in Central Visayas.