A total of 90 teachers from Santa Rosa City (Laguna), Tagaytay City, and District 2 of Batangas received financial aid from the Sampung Libong Pag-asa program on October 1, 2021.
Another 45 Facebook live commenters were also chosen as beneficiaries, bringing the total tally for the night to 150.
The program focused on teachers as the profession continues to struggle with conducting online and distance learning classes during the community quarantine.
Former House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano lamented the negative impact of the pandemic on private school teachers saying the community quarantine caused private school enrollees to decline and forced some private schools to close or lay off some of their workers.
For her part, Taguig 2nd Distrit Rep. Lani Cayetano emphasized the importance of supporting private schools.
“Ayaw nating totally na maubusan o magsara ang ating mga private schools kasi ang laking tulong nila sa education system natin,” she said.
(We do not want private schools to completely lose their profits and close because of their great contribution to our education system.)
Engineer Emma Pello, the Department Head of City Planning and Development Office of Tagaytay City, said the 10K Ayuda is a significant addition to the pandemic-stricken teachers’ salaries.
“Ito’y malaking tulong para sa mga teachers namin na, ito ang mga teachers na wala pang item sa national government. Ito yung mga gurong sumasahod under the local school board,” she said in a prerecorded video.
(This is a great help to our teachers. These teachers are the ones who do not have a regular position from the national government and are paid under the local school board.)
Under the Sampung Libong Pag-asa program, the chosen beneficiaries are given P10,000 in financial aid to purchase their basic needs and help them establish their own business during the pandemic.
As of October 2, 2021, the initiative has helped a total of 11,482 beneficiaries.
