By Emmie V. Abadilla

The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is strengthening its Corporate Social Responsibility program for education through a new P500-million scholarship initiative targeting underprivileged high school graduates across the country.

The state-owned bank will support the education of over 2,500 scholars in the next five years with the DBP Resources for Inclusive and Sustainable Education (DBP RISE), DBP president and chief executive officer Cecilia C. Borromeo yesterday announced.

“The DBP RISE is one project which can make a substantial difference in the lives of many of our poor countrymen,” she stressed.

Under the DBP RISE, the bank will support students enrolled in accountancy, engineering, education, and information technology courses, shouldering tuition fees, board and lodging expenses, living allowance, cost of apprenticeship, residency training, and expenses during reviews for Board exams, she elaborated.

Already, DBP has tapped 14 partner-schools for this initiative, of which eight are state universities and colleges and six are private educational institutions.

These include the University of the Philippines Los Baños, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Bulacan State University, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Mindanao State University, Mindanao State University of Science & Technology, Misamis University, Our Lady of Triumph Institute of Technology, Palawan State University, Philippine Normal University, University of Cebu, Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas, West Bay College, and West Visayas State University.

The DBP RISE is the offshoot of the DBP Endowment for Education Program (DEEP) which is nearing its completion after a decade of implementation.

Overall, DEEP has produced more than 3,500 graduates with more than 85% now gainfully employed. Out of that number, 47% were from Mindanao, 34% came from Luzon while 19% hailed from the Visayas.