Australia Awards empower Filipino scholars to give back

MANILA, Philippines - Over the last four years, Filipino scholars graduating under the prestigious Australia Awards program are bringing their achievements and success back to their workplaces and communities to build and inspire positive change.

Through the Australia Awards Scholarships program, scholars gain not only personal and professional growth, but also opportunities to contribute to the development and prosperity of the Philippines.  Australia Awards scholars make a difference in a wide range of sectors, including disaster risk reduction and management, education, governance, peace and security, and human resource and organizational development.

Outstanding Australia Awards scholars include Mr Dandy Victa of the National Council on Disability Affairs, Wilmita Lyn Gupit-Papio of the Civil Service Commission and Angelo Arboleda of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA).

Empowering persons with disability (PWDs) was the goal for 2011 Australia Awards scholar Victa.  Through his Re-entry Action Plan (REAP), a crucial strategy to support returning scholars back into the workplace, he designed and implemented an Internet-based work-at-home program for PWDs.

“What inspired me to finish my REAP is my belief that it would really make a difference to the lives of persons with disability. The advent of internet-based jobs gives PWDs the opportunity to find work without looking at their disabilities but at what they can do to help others," he said. 

In 2013, Papio contributed to the national government’s policy on recruitment and promotion to better identify candidate knowledge and skill set. Through her REAP, she served as external adviser to the Civil Service Commission and helped pave the way for an efficient roll-out of the agency’s competency-based hiring program to other government offices.

Meanwhile, Arboleda’s REAP helped NAMRIA in 2011 deliver enhanced software for the distribution of geospatial information to the public to help communities develop more accurate and safer hazard planning.

“When I returned, I implemented what we call the source code management system which tracks the quality of the software we produce. It is essential in helping NAMRIA reach its goal of delivering timely, accessible and accurate geospatial information,” he said.

The Australia Awards is a prestigious international scholarships program equipping emerging leaders with skills and a world-class Australian education to build a better future, not just for themselves, but also for their home countries.

Scholarships attract the Philippines’ best and brightest - regardless of gender, ethnicity or disability - who wish to pursue postgraduate qualification (masters degree) in Australian universities. It covers an awardee’s travel, study, and living expenses in Australia. Application for the program’s 2016 intake is open until April 30, 2015.

To learn more about the Australia Awards and the application process, join the information session on Thursday, 19 March, 2 p.m., at the PHIVOLCS Auditorium, C.P. Garcia Avenue, University of the Philippines Diliman Campus, Diliman, Quezon City. Register here: http://forms.pahrodf.info/form/50691311703952. Visit www.australiaawardsphilippines.org for more details.