LAOAG CITY, June 15 -- A total of 1,028 indigent students from various parts of Ilocos Norte received PHP5,000 each in educational assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday at the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena.

Noah Lordleigh Ibana, focal person for education assistance under the Office of the Governor, said the DSWD program aims to provide financial aid to Filipino students from low-income families. Of more than 5,000 applicants, only 1,028 qualified.

"We enlisted our names under the program last April at the Capitol and finally, our education assistance came just in time for the payment of our tuition fees," said Ghea Tajodloy, 19, a second-year tourism management student at Northwestern Univer...