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By LOUI MALIZA
Padayon Pilipino . 

“YOUR clothes and expensive belongings might perish as time passes by, but your education will be with you until the end of time,” Provincial Governor Bambi Emano told thousands of students in a recent gathering in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.

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The occasion was in observance of the 12th anniversary of the “Iskolar Ko Ni Bambi” (IKNB) Program since it was launched in 2007 when Bambi was still the representative of Misamis Oriental’s second congressional district. Bambi continued his scholarship program after he was elected governor of Misamis Oriental in 2013 and until today.

The students, accompanied by their parents and guardians, were overwhelmed with a mixed feeling of joy and triumph as Bambi promised that the IKNB program will continue for as long as he is the provincial governor of Misamis Oriental.

In his message to the student cum scholars, Emano said that his political detractors are out to stop the IKNB scholarship program because they alleged that the program has not helped the poor and the underprivileged at all.

“Perhaps, it is irrelevant to tell everyone that the IKNB started 12 years ago with a little less than a thousand scholars. Perhaps, there is nothing to brag about if I will tell the political detractors that almost 20,000 students have benefited from the IKNB scholarship for the last 12 years,” Emano related amid the roar and applause of the more than a thousand students and parents who attended the celebration.

Emano is happy to share that every year, graduates who have availed of the IKNB scholarship program find jobs here and abroad. He has been working so hard so that those deprived of education because of poverty will be empowered to become successful professionals.

IKNB scholars – some have graduated and are now gainfully employed while others are still studying – shared their views about the IKNB scholarship program and how it has touched the lives of many, especially the poor people of Misamis Oriental.

“Gusto namo nga ipadayon ni Governor Emano ang IKNB nga programa aron matabangan ang kabos ug timawa makatungha ug molampos sa umalabot nga adlaw,” said Benjie Liloc, 23, of Balingoan, Misamis Oriental.

Liloc, now an English teacher at the St. Mary’s Academy of Talisayan, graduated in March 2017 with academic distinction at Misamis Oriental Institute of Science and Technology (Moist) in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental.

“My mother sells ‘rice cake’ (kutsinta) outside the gate of IKNB for us to make both ends meet.” With seven siblings, Liloc narrated the hardship that his mother went through. “But thanks to Gov. Bambi Emano’s IKNB, our lives changed after I finished my degree (Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, Major in English) and landed a teaching job,” Liloc added.

Another IKNB scholar, Arthur Reyes, 26, graduated cum laude with a Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) degree in Moist on April 28, 2018. Reyes now works as HR Officer and External Marketing Executive at the Stargate Dream Vacation Resort in Cagayan de Oro City.

“Through Gov. Emano’s IKNB, one could fulfill his/her dream. Emano is a man of respect with a big heart and is generous to the poor,” Reyes said.

Grezah Acut, 23, a graduating student of Mindanao State University (MSU) in Naawan, Misamis Oriental, taking up Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology, could not help but express her gratitude to Bambi’s IKNB program. “My father is a farmer and has no permanent job. Being an IKNB scholar allowed me to pursue my studies. Hopefully, I will graduate in March of this year,” Acut proudly shared.

Rizza May Cabatuan, 19, of Luga-it, Misamis Oriental, a Freshman IKNB scholar, taking up Diploma in Fisheries Technology at the MSU-Naawan articulated her unsolicited advice that IKNB scholars should grab the opportunity because not all are given the privilege to be a scholar.

A daughter of a farmer and the fourth of six siblings, Cabatuan who is an SK member of Betahon, Lugait said that the IKNB scholar must take to heart the opportunity given by Gov. Bambi Emano by studying hard because his scholarship program is designed to help the poor and the less fortunate.

(Loui Maliza is a staff member at the capitol press office.)

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