THE UNIVERSITY of the Philippines’ Affirmative Action Program for Mindanao Alumni Association, Inc. recently turned over P1 million to the UP Visayas Foundation Inc. for the UP-AAPM Endowment Scholarship Program.

“This amount is part of the Memorandum of Agreement that AAPM-AAI and the UPVFI arranged back in March 2017. The MOA stipulated the creation of an endowment fund for qualified UPV students’ scholarships,” UP Visayas said.

“No grade requirement was set by the group, intending to support currently enrolled students who are preferably from Mindanao. The P1-million donation is the initial amount of the group’s P2-million pledge,” it added.

The check was received by UPV Chancellor Clement Camposano and Executive Director of the UPVFI Dr. Joy Lizada.

UPV said that the support will include a monthly stipend, a semestral book, and transportation allowance.

Out of the 336 AAPM grantees, 65 percent completed their baccalaureate degrees in UPV while others migrated back to UP Mindanao and other campuses to finish their courses.

One of the recipients, Professor Cherry Pilapil Añasco, now a faculty member of the College of Fisheries in UPV and president of the UP-AAPM-AAI, said the financial and psycho-social assistance components of the program helped her and many others hurdle their university lives.

“Añasco is now leading a group of accomplished alumni who are well placed in their careers both in the country and internationally to pay it forward,” UPV said.

The AAPM is a UP System program implemented in UPV in the 1990s when UP Mindanao was established. It seeks to provide affordable and quality education, scholarly research and relevant extension services to diverse, marginalized and deserving sectors in Mindanao and neighboring regions.