Cagayan de Oro City — The Mindanao State University (MSU) in Naawan, Misamis Oriental, some 63.4 kilometers west of this city, will host a family day tomorrow for all its scholars under the Extended Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA) of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Dr. Gil J. Lumasag, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of MSU Naawan, said the whole day activity will promote camaraderie among Pantawid Pamilya college scholars, parents, and other stakeholders.

During the event, MSU Naawan will also recognize grantees who are academic achievers during the first semester of the Academic Year 2014-2015 said Lumasag.

In 2012, the Pantawid Pamilya in partnership   with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) launched and eventually rolled-out the ESGPPA for Pantawid Pamilya households, whose members are about to enroll or currently enrolled in college.

Lawyer Araceli F. Solamillo, Regional Director of DSWD Northern Mindanao said the scholarship program aims to contribute to the thrusts of the National Government in addressing poverty alleviation by providing higher education to poor households, giving them better opportunities of being employed, and thereby lifting their families out of poverty.

Under the program, Solamillo said other children of the household beneficiary will have an opportunity to pursue tertiary education provided that they qualify for the said scholarship.

Currently, Northern Mindanao has more than 2,000 college scholars who are enrolled in the different state universities and colleges duly recognized by CHED.

Pantawid Pamilya is a human development program of the national government that invests in the health and education of the poor households by providing monthly cash grants to beneficiaries, provided that they comply with the set of conditions required by the program.### smu

Written by Oliver Badel Inodeo, DSWD Northern Mindanao