PTT Philippines Corp. has teamed up with the Department of Education (DepEd) to support with educational materials 10,000 public school children in remote barangays, initially across Luzon.
Dubbed “PTT Paaral Program,” the initiative also has the support of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Air Force, and the local government units.
The Thai firm said the DepEd had so far identified as pilot areas schools in three provinces in the Cordilleras, Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon).
The oil company, through PTT Philippines Foundation, plans to “adopt” 10,000 elementary pupils from 100 schools nationwide.
The beneficiaries—100 from each school—will receive supplies such as backpacks, notebooks, writing pads, pencils, crayons and slippers.
Also, the schools will get needed supplies such as posters, erasers, marking pens, first aid kits and pre-owned laptops, among others.
In return, the students are required to plant 10 trees each inside their school compound as part of their contribution to environmental protection and preservation.
The first batch of school-beneficiaries being considered include one at the foot of Mt. Pulag in Benguet, another at the foot of Mt. Mariveles in Bataan, and a third at the foot of Mt. Banahaw in Quezon.
Sukanya Seriyothin, PTT Philippines president and chief executive, said priority would be given to schools in remote barangays.
“Normally, these schools are located in the far-flung areas that are about 2 to 5 kilometers away from the población,” Seriyothin said.
The program has a seed fund of P3 million from PTT’s Restroom 20 project, which is a donation-type toilet that is being implemented in two PTT stations—the one along Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and PTT Lucena.
At a suggested donation of P20, donors can use the toilets, which are provided with first-class amenities. The concept follows a similar project that PTT initiated in Thailand.