Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson led the distribution of educational assistance worth a total of P375,000 to 50 elementary and high school students who are members of the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in the province’s Isabela town yesterday morning.

Each student received P7,500 each, which represents their allowance for 10 months.

The said financial assistance is under the scholarship category, Educational Assistance for IP’s Basic Education (EAIBE), under the supervision of the Negros Occidental Scholarship Program Division headed by Karen Dinsay.

The distribution was held at Sitio Marikudo, Barangay Camangcamang, Isabela in the presence of Fifth District Board Member and chairman of the SP Committee on Education Agustin Ernesto Bascon, Isabela Mayor Irene Montilla, Municipal Consultant on Barangay Affairs Juan Miguel Montilla, Milina Jeruta of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) – Negros Occidental, and Ati Leader Teresita “Dayco” Sinceda, among others.

Lacson, in his message, urged the IP students to be diligent in their studies, finish high school and eventually go to college to give themselves and their families a better future.

Aside from the P30 million worth of projects approved for Isabela, the governor also pledged to put up a daycare center in the area to boost and encourage early childhood education./WDJ