DLSU scholarship program gets boost from PLDT-Smart, One Meralco Foundation

MANILA, Philippines - To help support the education of public high school students, a memorandum of agreement was recently signed among One Meralco Foundation, PLDT-Smart Foundation and De La Salle University to boost the university’s Vaugirard Scholarship Program.

The charitable organizations donated P10 million to the scholarship, which grants 50 new scholarships every year to top graduates of Philippine public high schools.

To formalize the partnership, DLSU president and chancellor Br. Ricardo Laguda signed a MOA with PLDT-Smart Foundation chairman Manny Pangilinan and president Esther Santos, and One Meralco Foundation president Jeffrey Tarayao.

Pangilinan expressed his support for the Lasallian mission of extending education opportunities to all. The scholarship program is named after Vaugirard, France, the location where St. John Baptist de La Salle founded his first novitiate.

Among those present during the signing were Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) president Jose Ma. Lim, Education Secretary Armin Luistro, DLSU vice chancellor for Lasallian Mission and Alumni Relations Br. Bernard Oca, trustees Br. Augustine Boquer and Br. Dennis Magbanua, assistant to the president for institutional development and special projects Edwin Reyes, Office of the President and chancellor consultant Jose Kalaw, and Board of Trustees member Carlos Rufino.

Also present were Marixi Prieto, former DLSU trustee, and Alfred Xerez-Burgos Jr., MPIC Board advisor.