Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan distributed the allowance of students from the Universidad de Manila (UdM) and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Manila (PLM).
Mayor Honey Lacuna and Vice Mayor Yul Servo with UdM President Dr. Felma Carlos-Tria and the students from the UdM. (Jerry S. Tan)
A total of 10,492 UdM students and 8,200 PLM students received educational assistance as part of the city's social amelioration program (SAP).
Lacuna emphasized the importance of providing students with their share of the city’s tax revenues.
"These payouts to students are regular occurrences. These allowances are the beneficiaries' share of the taxes collected and revenues generated by the city," Lacuna-Pangan said.
UdM students received P2,000 each during a two-day distribution event on March 4 and 5, covering their allowances for Nov. and Dec.
The distribution was conducted per college to ensure efficiency, with additional staff deployed to speed up the process.
Students who were unable to claim their allowances during the event may still do so until Friday, March 7.
"Day 1 classes were suspended but we still distributed the allowance. We deployed more staff to distribute the cash faster so the students won’t need to stay in school longer than necessary," UdM President Dr. Felma Carlos-Tria said.
Meanwhile, PLM students received their allowances via debit card accounts.
Lacuna also announced plans to implement a similar system for UdM, citing security and financial inclusion as key considerations.
The SAP program, which Lacuna helped draft while she was the presiding officer of the Manila City Council, also provides financial assistance to senior citizens, solo parents, and persons with disabilities (PWDs). (Jhoana Mae Delfin)