For being the cream of the crop, over 1,000 public elementary and high school honor students in Manila were recently recognized by Mayor Joseph Estrada and given cash rewards worth more than P7.3 million.
At the awarding rites of the annual “Gawad Pagkilala sa mga Natatanging Mag-aaral ng Maynila 2017” (Grant and Recognition of the Outstanding Students of Manila) at the city hall, Estrada congratulated the students for bringing honor not only to their families but also to the city.
“I am glad to be with the best students of the City of Manila. We are very proud of your hard work and dedication. You are the hope of the New Manila. You are ones who bring pride to our city,” Estrada told the latest batch of 115 awardees, who each received P2,000 cash, medals, and certificates.
Estrada said these bright students from the city’s 73 public elementary schools and 33 high schools are proof the City of Manila is slowly gaining back its long-lost glory.
“You have shown that you have what it takes to succeed in the future,” he added.
For 2017, Estrada has set aside P7.3 million as cash incentive for the Top 5 percent of the graduating classes and Top 3 percent of current Grades 7 and 6 students, according to Division of City Schools-Manila Superintendent Wilfredo Cabral.
A total of 1,189 students received the cash gifts, including those who graduated last March. First honor students were given P10,000; P7,000 for 2nd; P6,000 for 3rd; P5,000 for 4th; and P4,000 for 5th honors.
“This is a great incentive for the students for working so hard to be the best in their class. We all saw that the children did their best,” Cabral said.
More than these cash rewards, Cabral pointed out the students were inspired to study hard because of the support of the city government, such as free school uniforms and supplies, new and renovated classrooms, equipment, and modern facilities that made Manila public schools more conducive to learning.
“These initiatives given by Mayor Estrada helped a lot of students, somehow it adds up to their desire to do better,” he said.
Education is one of Estrada’s priority programs. For 2017, he has allocated more than P2 billion to the city’s Special Educational Fund to finance the construction of additional school infrastructures and other related programs.
In 2016, Estrada constructed and repaired 45 school buildings in various public elementary and secondary schools in the city totaling P2.54 billion to improve the quality of education being given to poor students.
Of the building projects, 13 were new ones worth a total of P828.23 million. The rest were repair and rehabilitation works worth P1.72 billion, according to the Office of the City Engineer.
In 2015, the city mayor also completed 44 school infrastructure projects—32 of which have been completed—with a total project cost of P1.49 billion.
For the two-year period, the city government completed 87 school building projects with total project costs of P4.03 billion.