4PS BENEFICIARY FROM PAOAY, ILOCOS NORTE TOPS CIVIL ENG’G EXAMS

May 13, 2023 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY

A beneficiary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang
Pilipino Program (4Ps) from Paoay, Ilocos Norte topped the 2023 Civil Engineering Licensure Examinations. Alexis Castillo Alegado garnering 92.10%, graduated Cum Laude at the state-run
Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Batac, Ilocos Norte. The 22 year-old Alegado was among the 32 out of 77 graduates of MMSU’s College of Engineering who passed the Civil Engineering Licensure Exams administered by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) on April 23- 24.

MMSU posted a 41.56% passing rate, higher than the 34.76% national rate where 5,887 out of 16,936 (34.76%) successfully hurdled the examinations. The DSWD’s 4Ps program is human development measure of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor to improve the health, nutrition and education particularly of children aged 0-18. Alegado’s academic success and his topping the 2023 Civil Engineering Licensure Examinations is a concrete indication that DSWD’s 4Ps is a valuable tool in effectively investing in human capital, said DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez.

“Patunay po ang tagumpay ni Engr. Alexis Alegado na ang ating 4Ps ay napakahalaga sa bawat pamilyang Pilipino para mapagtapos sa kolehiyo ang kanilang mga anak na siyang makakatulong para sa pag-angat mula sa kahirapan.” Alegado was also a student-beneficiary of the Expanded Student’s Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA) program which made him automatically qualified for the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) under Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

Beneficiaries under ESGP-PA are poor but deserving students belonging to families logged in the DSWD’s 4Ps program. They can enroll in selected State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) taking up the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) priority programs and other courses offerings within the government key growth areas. TES is one of the four programs under RA 10931 which will provide funding for qualified Filipino students from the poorest-of-the-poor households enrolled in public and private Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs).

Once accepted under TES, ESGP-PA grantees will receive the following: allowance for books, supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses; a reasonable allowance for the documented rental or purchase of personal computer or laptop and other education-related expenses; allowance for room and board costs incurred by the student; additional subsidy of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) or a one-time cost of a first licensure examination for graduates of a Board course or program.

Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN