Five Southern Leyte Students Were Just Given ₱20,000 Each—Now Comes the Hardest Part

SOGOD, Southern Leyte — For five college students in Barangay Suba, the road to graduation just became a little more within reach.

Five fourth-year students from the barangay have received ₱20,000 each in educational assistance under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s Bawat Barangay Makikinabang scholarship initiative, giving them additional financial support as they enter the final stretch of their college education.

The beneficiaries are Maria Elda Binalangbang, Emarnel Odarbe, Neilmatheo Abonita, Jasmin Legaspi, and Niezel Butil, who are enrolled in different degree programs at Southern Leyte State University-Main Campus and St. Tomas Aquinas College of Sogod.

Binalangbang is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, major in Networking; Odarbe is taking Bachelor of Industrial Technology, major in Electrical Technology; and Abonita is studying Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at Southern Leyte State University.

Meanwhile, Legaspi is pursuing Business Administration, while Butil is taking Elementary Education at St. Tomas Aquinas College of Sogod.

Why the ₱20,000 matters

The assistance comes at a critical point in their academic journey.

Being in the final year of college can mean mounting expenses—from school requirements and projects to transportation and everyday costs. For students already facing financial pressure, those expenses can become a serious obstacle between them and a diploma.

The national scholarship initiative was designed to address precisely that gap.

Under the Bawat Barangay Makikinabang program, each barangay receives ₱200,000, with ₱100,000 earmarked for five college scholars at ₱20,000 each. The remaining ₱100,000 is intended for priority community needs identified by the barangay.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government later issued implementing guidelines specifying that the scholarship component, known as the Bagong Pilipinas Barangay Scholars Program, is intended for qualified incoming fourth-year college students for School Year 2026–2027. The program prioritizes bona fide barangay residents from vulnerable households who are at risk of dropping out, with preference given to families without a member who has completed tertiary education.

President Marcos has repeatedly emphasized that the program is intended to help students who are close to finishing college but may struggle to graduate because of financial constraints.

During the program’s rollout, Marcos said barangays should prioritize students who are already near graduation but could have difficulty finishing because they lack money or may need to work.

From barangay assistance to a national education push

The Suba scholars are part of a much larger nationwide effort.

When the program was announced in May, the administration said the initiative could benefit more than 200,000 college students, based on the plan to provide five scholars in each of roughly 42,000 barangays nationwide.

The program has since been rolled out in different parts of the country.

In Cagayan, around 4,100 students were identified to benefit from the scholarship component, while in Pampanga, dozens of barangays received funding under the same initiative.

Southern Leyte has also seen beneficiaries from the program. A separate PIA feature previously highlighted students in Maasin City who viewed the presidential scholarship as an opportunity to complete their degrees despite financial challenges.

The government has framed the initiative not simply as financial assistance, but as an investment in students who are close to completing higher education and entering the workforce.

For the five students from Barangay Suba, however, the impact is much more immediate.

They now have additional support for the final leg of their college journey—and a better chance to turn years of studying, sacrifice and family support into the diploma they have been working toward.

For Binalangbang, Odarbe, Abonita, Legaspi and Butil, the ₱20,000 assistance may be only one part of their education, but it arrives at a moment when finishing college is within sight.

The bigger challenge now is simple: turning that final stretch into a finish line.