SUBIC BAY FREEPORT - A scholarship foundation set up by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) last year is now providing educational opportunities to poor but bright students in local communities here.

Last week, SBMA Chairman Feliciano Salonga turned over P556,250 from the SBMA Scholarship Foundation to help fund the scholarship program of Castillejos, Zambales, one of the municipalities near the Subic Bay Freeport.

Castillejos became the second local government unit in the province to benefit from the fund after the town council requested assistance for its scholarship program.

Castillejos mayor Wilma Billman, who received the check from Salonga, said the assistance was "very timely" because a lot of parents now find it hard to enroll their children due to recent increases in tuition fees and prices of school supplies.

"We will be using this assistance to upgrade and expand our scholarship program, which we have initiated a couple of years ago, so that we can send more children to school," a thankful Billman told Salonga.

"On behalf of the people of Castillejos, I thank the SBMA Scholarship Foundation and hope that this is just the beginning of their assistance to us," Billman said.

Salonga pointed out that the foundation is actually funded by voluntary donations from business locators and private individuals in the Subic Bay Freeport.

He said the foundation was established last year "precisely to provide support to scholarship programs" in communities adjoining Subic Freeport.

"We set up this foundation because the SBMA believes that education is the real hope for the country," Salonga also told Billman.

The SBMA official likewise said that the foundation will be providing more assistance to communities as Subic projects increasing economic growth in the coming years.

"As investments and trade grow in Subic, there will be more resources that we could dedicate to education," he said.

Aside from Castillejos, the SBMA Scholarship Foundation has already provided assistance to the local government of San Felipe, Zambales, Salonga said.

The foundation has also identified students from Subic town and the indigenous communities in the Freeport zone, who could benefit from similar scholarship programs.

Salonga stressed that the SBMA continues to share with neighboring communities part of the revenue generated from taxes paid by investors inside the Freeport.

"This is part of our commitment to local communities, and part of the SBMA mandate to help develop the Subic Bay area and promote the well-being of local residents," Salonga added. (30)