| |
|
The AFP Educational Benefit System Office NEWS CORNER... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| " RA6963: LEAVING NO ORPHANS BEHIND " |
|
|
|
| It was six in the evening. As usual, you find yourself caught by the red light along the busy intersection of Santolan Road and Katipunan Extension. As you listen to the soft purring of your car air conditioner, thoughts about home began to enter your mind. It's your turn to tutor Dian tonight after dinner. Hopefully, if everything turns out right tonight, you'll be off to bed at around ten, just in time to have a good night's rest. For tomorrow's your big day with the boss. You need to seek his approval for the project you are proposing whose success can launch your career to greater heights. It was at this trance-like state when a light tapping from your left car window pulled you back to reality. A ten-year-old girl begs that you buy the garland of sampaguitas in her hands. As you hand her the two five-peso coin, a nine-year old boy jumps inside the jeepney in front of you and with a small piece of cloth in his right hand, wipes the dust from the passengers' shoes and begs for coins after. His height and built reminds you of your seven-year-old son Billy. These children. They should be at home like Dian and Billy instead of prowling this busy intersection trying to eke out a living. What kind of parents would have the heart to send these children to fend for themselves at a very tender age? A small misstep here and there could lead to instant death from speeding jeepneys and buses. As you mull over these thoughts, the traffic light turned green and off you sped towards home – to Dian and Billy. It's just another day. |
|
| It is not surprising to find out that these children are orphans, without one parent or both to guide them along the way, and so they have to work really hard in order to secure a better future. Chances are, they are the orphans of our fallen soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in order to provide us a climate of peace and security. In fact, an annual average of 200 soldiers are killed and 300 permanently incapacitated in providing for peace and security. This unfortunate reality creates about 2000 orphans every year whose prospects for a better future turned bleak with the passing of their father who more often than not are the sole breadwinner. But all is not lost. Though society can never repay the sacrifices of these unsung heroes nor replace them in their role as father to their children, it can however alleviate the loss of a father and a breadwinner. This it has been doing through RA 6963. |
|
| Enacted in 1990, the law provides for the financial support of soldiers killed-in-action or permanently incapacitated in the line of duty. Most noteworthy of this piece of legislation is the additional financial support it provides for the education of these soldiers' orphans from the time they lost their fathers till they graduate from college. Currently, it has already touched the lives of more than a thousand orphans with 81 college graduates, themselves having their own success stories to tell |
|
| As it has been, the scholarship program under RA 6963 has consistently provided these orphans a better direction in life by helping them realize their dreams. It has given and will continue giving these grantees a chance to recover from the loss of a parent and an opportunity to build a better future. It expects nothing in return from its beneficiaries but the assurance that they give out their best to follow their dreams. |
|
The scholarship program still stands to benefit thousands of orphans whose future can be bright and promising through education. Though it does not claim that it can bring all orphans to school from the streets, it is surely doing its best to achieve that goal. Truly, through RA 6963, there is more than a flicker of hope for both our fallen heroes and the orphans they have left behind. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
