Metrobank Foundation Affirms Commitment to Support Financially Disadvantaged Students Through Scholarships

For the Metrobank Foundation, Inc. (MBFI), it is important that private institutions and big corporations keep investing in education on the firm belief that it “can be a powerful ticket out of poverty” for young and brilliant Filipino students, who come from marginalized families and communities.

MBFI executive vice president (EVP) Philip Francisco Dy relayed this message in connection with the fourth cycle of their scholarship program called Assistance for the Completion of College Education for Superior Students (ACCESS IV) launched in April of this year.

In an interview with “Agenda” on One News channel last Thursday, Nov. 16, Dy reported that the ACCESS initiative has so far sponsored the studies of 1,166 students since its first cycle in 1995, including the present batch of scholars.

“We do have a lot of success stories from how we’ve done this over the years, demonstrating how ­– through the gift of education – this can really be an opportunity for somebody to have a better quality of life for themselves and their families,” Dy said.

To determine who are qualified for scholarship opportunities, the MBFI employs a “multi-stage” application process in partnership with different public and private higher education institutions (HEI). The schools present a shortlist through which the foundation selects the candidates for scholarship.

“After the shortlist is provided, we do an interview process with our scholars. So, this is something that we really take seriously because being successful in school is not just about academic capacity. It’s also about the values and the work ethic of the potential scholar,” according to the EVP.

Similarly, the students are required to submit a short essay, which aids the MBFI in gauging their personality, values and family background. Dy also mentioned that Metrobank employees would sometimes voluntarily get involved in the selection process.

This enables the nonprofit organization to maintain objectivity in its distribution of scholarship grants, considering the presence of the so-called “bata-bata” or patronage politics in some Philippine universities and colleges as well, on top of several other factors.

Dy explained that they assess the scholarship nominees based on “need and merit.” The foundation verifies the financial capacity of the families of shortlisted students to ensure that the educational assistance would go to those who need it the most. “But merit is equally important,” he noted.

“The potential scholar must demonstrate his or her own seriousness and drive to be able to not only get a good education, but finish that education, and make sure that he or she will be able to leverage that good education to provide a better future for himself/herself as well as the family that they are a part of,” the MBFI official said partly in Filipino.

In choosing which college programs to support, Dy said they look at possible “priority courses that are most relevant,” depending on the need of the market or the trends happening in our society at the time of implementing the scholarship cycle.

The foundation relies on learning institutions tagged as “Centers of Excellence” by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on the availability of these courses. “That serves as another filter through which we decide which partner universities we will prioritize,” according to Dy. 

At present, the MBFI is mostly investing in students who are enrolled in HEIs outside of Metro Manila, where the poverty rate is higher. “For the purposes of our (scholarship) program, we don’t require that they (students) should be living within the university or in the dormitories,” the EVP said.

In a recent news release published on its website, the foundation said it has awarded 60 scholarship grants through its revitalized ACCESS IV program this year to students from the following HEIs: Saint Louis University (SLU) in Baguio City; University of the Philippines Diliman School of Statistics (UPD-Stat); Lyceum of the Philippines University – Batangas (LPUB); Ateneo de Naga University (ADNU), University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJR) in Cebu City, and University of Mindanao (UM) in Davao City.

“Of course, as with a lot of scholarship programs, you should be able to maintain a certain average every semester to be able to maintain the scholarship. So, that’s part of how we’re also assessing whether they’re able to perform well academically,” Dy pointed out.

Tracking the impact of scholarships

Since ACCESS IV is being offered as a complete scholarship package, the MBFI also allotted resources to measure the impact of the program. This is published in their “Overcoming Adversity and Gaining Momentum” book, which chronicled the success stories of 10 of its past scholars. 

According to Dy, they have already produced a doctor, one established a “quite successful” business related to information technology, while another set up an architectural firm. Some of their scholars are also working students.

“Because of the gift of scholarship, that allows them (working students) to actually focus more on their education and make sure that they get the most out of their schooling, so that they can graduate on time,” the MBFI official shared.

The foundation also has a regular “engagement program,” which provides an “end-to-end kind of service” for the scholars. This allows the MBFI to impart the core values espoused by the Metrobank corporation and its subsidiaries among the students.

Part of this is the concept of “paying it forward,” which means “being thankful for the blessings that you are able to receive, such as this scholarship and once you are in a position to be a blessing to others, you also do that in your own way,” Dy explained.

Scholars are also presented with internship and employment opportunities under Metrobank and its group of companies, especially if they graduated from certain courses that are considered “priority hiring” in these organizations.

Besides the MBFI ACCESS IV program, Metrobank also actively supports the education of other academically gifted yet financially disadvantaged students through the family foundation of its late chairman Dr. George S.K. Ty (GT).

The GT Foundation Inc. (GTFI) implements the Reformation and Educational Assistance Program (REAP), which offers scholarships to 3rd and 4th year college students pursuing the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) track.

GTFI selected 29 beneficiaries for its REAP scholarships this year from the Manila Tytana Colleges (MTC), Adamson University (AdU), and the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP). The latter attested to the positive impact of this educational assistance on the well-being of its students.

In a separate communication with OneNews.PH, TIP through its Career Center said it has been working with GTFI for two years now. Throughout this period, it received 15 REAP scholarships for its students in TIP Quezon City and 12 for those enrolled in the Manila campus.

Overall, a total of 38 TIP students benefited from the educational assistance offered by the Metrobank Group largely through GTFI and MBFI. This, in turn, contributed to the success of scholars who went on to pursue professional career paths shortly after graduating from their college programs.

“The GTFI/MBFI scholarship programs have established channels that provide immediate benefits to our students, while also contributing to the development of a more diversified and skilled workforce, ultimately benefiting society as a whole,” according to the TIP Career Center.

In partnership with the TIP Alumni Affairs Unit, the Career Center also regularly monitors the progress of scholars who graduated. Majority of them did find jobs within the Metrobank Group of Companies, while some were able to secure employment in other companies.

Supporting young artists through the MADE program

Meanwhile, Dy also discussed how the MBFI fosters a thriving creative community in the Philippines through its Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) program. This initiative was launched in 1984, shortly after the foundation was established in 1979.

MADE hosts an annual competition, which aims to identify young artists and provide them with opportunities to pursue careers in the arts. This is held every September, coinciding with the anniversary of Metrobank.

“The vision behind this was can we put up a program that will allow us to identify young artists that if not provided the opportunity will not be able to pursue careers in the arts and, therefore, hone their craft and contribute to Philippine art and culture,” Dy explained.

MADE highly encourages submissions from all over the country to ensure that artists from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao receive proper representation. This is supported through a massive information campaign courtesy of the MBFI.

“We really work very closely with communities all over the country, especially art communities, and more of these geographically-based art communities are emerging in different parts of the country,” according to Dy.

Dy noted any young artist looking for exposure “typically” has the MADE competition on the radar. Successful participants are awarded cash prizes and special citations with some of their winning artworks getting featured in a curated exhibit.

This year, the MBFI has partnered with the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in Bonifacio Global City to organize a two-week art exhibit for the MADE program. Other notable artworks will also be part of the permanent collection of Metrobank.

The winning artists are also granted opportunities to further develop their skills with the help of Linangan Art Residency under the mentorship of award-winning painter Manny Garibay, who is also a former MADE awardee.

For 2023, MADE selected three grand winners in the competition: Abril Dominic Valdemoro (sculpture), Jowee Anne Aguinaldo (oil/acrylic on canvas), and Jerome Santos (watermedia on paper). Valdemoro was awarded P500,000 while Aguinaldo and Santos won P350,000 each plus art residency.

Special citations, meanwhile, were presented to Dexter Cinco and Jonas Miguel Arlegui (oil/acrylic on canvas), Zarlien Delgado (watermedia on paper), and Michael Art de Leon (sculpture). They also received P100,000 each for their participation.