Negros Occidental third district Rep. Alfredo Benitez recently addressed a group of students at the Silay City Plaza covered court as part of an orientation and dialogue for the Tulong-Dunong Program, which provides financial assistance for college students.

A total of 1,886 students from across the Negros Occidental third congressional district were eligible for the assistance this academic year.

Philippine Women’s University president, Dr. Jose Francisco Benitez, the congressman’s brother, also spoke to those gathered, urging them to finish school and to give back to their respective communities.

Earlier this year, with Benitez in the middle of his third and final term, the legislator endorsed his brother as his replacement in Congress.

According to a press release, the Tulong-Dunong Program, which was devised in 2010 through a partnership between the congressman’s office and the Commission on Higher Education, has benefited a total 14,286 students./WDJ