MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced on Tuesday, June 20, that college students affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) will receive a one-time educational assistance of P5,000.

During a Palace news briefing on Tuesday, CHED Commissioner Prospero de Vera III said there is “residual money” of about P540 million “from Yolanda funds that were not utilized in 2016.”

“The Office of the President instructed CHED to expedite the use of this money….We are sending notices to all the public and private universities in Yolanda-affected areas that the money will be available to them,” De Vera added.

According to CHED Memorandum Order 56 series of 2017, this educational assistance will be made available to all enrolled students in Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Mimaropa who were identified as affected by Yolanda.

“So this will be disbursed by the universities to students as financial assistance starting this month as soon as the necessary paperwork is done with the state universities and colleges,” De Vera explained.

More than 100,000 students stand to benefit from the program funded by the 2016 budget of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.

Students with the following qualifications will receive the educational assistance:

• Filipino citizen
• Students identified by concerned CHED regional offices as affected by Yolanda
• Currently enrolled in higher education institutions (HEIs)

Qualified students must submit the following requirements:

• Duly-accomplished application form
• Certification from the municipality as affected by Yolanda
• Certified true copy of enrollment/registration from the HEI
• Endorsement of HEIs with the attached masterlist of grantees

It has been more than 3 years since Yolanda ravaged parts of the Visayas in November 2013, displacing families and damaging infrastructure, including colleges and universities. – Rappler.com