MANILA, Philippines—They literally bring the news right to our doorsteps.
But on Wednesday, these six young scholars of the Philippine Daily Inquirer Newsboy Foundation found themselves in the news when they were honored as the Most Outstanding Graduates for the past school year during simple ceremonies held at the Inquirer main office in Makati City on July 11.
Awardees for the grade school category included Cristel Marie Perez (Pilar Village Elementary School, Las Piñas), Janrey Buenconsejo (Tabaco Northwest Central School, Albay) and Joshua Inigo Capitan (St. Mary’s School, Cagayan de Oro).
Jhon Melmar Baluyot (Lakandula High School, Manila), Jan Mark Neil Ramos (Buenlag National High School, Pangasinan) and Gary Roider Ladisla (Maryknoll of Manlay, Davao Oriental) were the awardees in the high school category.
In her message, Inquirer chair Marixi Prieto congratulated the awardees and encouraged them to continue to do better in school.
“We hope you continue to improve yourselves and get into higher education,” said Prieto, who also thanked the parents present during the awarding. “You should also be proud of enabling them to achieve this award.”
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Baluyot, now an Automotive Engineering freshman at Technological University of the Philippines, thanked the newspaper for “this great blessing.”
“Thank you for this big help. Knowing that the Inquirer is there to help us overcome our financial difficulties is a really big thing for us scholars,” Baluyot said in his speech. “Your support has inspired us to study harder and motivated us to overcome the other obstacles in our lives.”
Unable to attend the awarding, Ladisla, now a freshman at Davao Merchant Marine Academy, sent a note thanking the Inquirer for its “generosity and commitment.”
“I treasure your generosity and commitment to help deserving students, to inspire and motivate them to become better individuals for country and God,” wrote Ladisla, who has been a scholar of the foundation since his elementary days.
Davao dealer Nelia Partoza, who also received the award on behalf of Ladisla, likewise encouraged the scholars to be “good role models to other youth.”
Partoza also shared the experience of Don Gerson Mantawel, one of the foundation’s high school scholars. “He graduated from high school because of the Inquirer, and now he is able to continue his college studies also with the help of Inquirer,” she said.
Mantawel, who helps in distributing the newspaper, is currently a journalism student at the University of Immaculate Conception. “His dream is to write for the Inquirer someday,” Partoza added.
Prizes
The awardees each received a certificate of recognition, a cash prize of P5,000 and gift bags. Also present during the event were Inquirer senior vice president for sales and marketing Rene Reinoso and assistant vice president for circulation Andrew Chanco.
The newspaper’s dealers from across the country also attended the awarding, including Inquirer Newsboy Foundation dealer-trustees Danny Jose (Metro Manila), Sammy Navarro (Luzon) and Eduardo Clavero (Visayas and Mindanao).
More than 1,000 scholars
During the program, Inquirer Publications Inc. also turned over P85,000 to the foundation. This amount represented the proceeds of the first Bandera Cup, which was held in September last year.
Part of the revenues from Inquirer copies sold goes to the Inquirer Newsboy Foundation. More than 1,000 students have been given scholarships since the foundation began handing out monthly stipends to deserving grade school and high school students in 1993. It started offering college scholarships in 1996.
Regional newspaper dealers nominate candidates for the scholarships. Candidates can be newsboys or a first-degree relative of a newsboy and should be on the top 10 of his or her class. Kate Pedroso, Inquirer Research