Bato backs Legarda’s push to hike scholarship funds for combatants’ kids

Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has expressed full support for increasing the budget for scholarships intended for children of former combatants, citing its potential to contribute significantly to peace and reconciliation efforts across the country.

Speaking at the 2026 budget deliberation for the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), which Dela Rosa chairs under the Senate Committee on Finance Subcommittee E, Senator Loren Legarda proposed augmenting the program’s funding.

Legarda called for an increase in the current scholarship allocation of P50,000 per student per year, as well as expanding the number of beneficiaries to cover all children of combatants, not just one per family.

Dela Rosa supported the proposal and recalled his own experience as a government scholar at Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi before entering the Philippine Military Academy in 1982.

“Our allowance was P300 per month, which was already a big help at the time. I could still bring home groceries to Davao, including a whole can of Rebisco biscuits. My siblings would smile seeing me arrive with that can because I was a scholar,” Dela Rosa shared in Filipino.

He also recounted the risks he faced while studying during the conflict between government forces and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

“There was fighting between the army and MNLF. We’d hit the floor in the dormitory. After the gunfire stopped, I’d go to school, only to find my pants full of bullet holes,” he said.

Dela Rosa stressed that enhancing the scholarship program would benefit not only children of Muslim rebels but also Christians, Lumads, and other communities, including those outside Mindanao such as Palawan and even Manila.

“This will benefit many. So, Chairman [Gatchalian], let’s support this initiative,” he said.

Legarda asked OPAPRU Secretary Carlito Galvez to submit an updated computation for the expanded coverage, saying the list should include all state universities and local colleges in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), and beneficiaries should include school-age children of combatants and Indigenous Peoples.

“You’ll submit it to the chair, and he committed to fully fund the scholarship program of P50,000 per student per year,” Legarda said.

Senator Win Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, is committed to supporting the increase and highlighting its importance in promoting long-term peace.

“They are thinking of the future. This is not for them but for their children. They will look at that, imagine, in exchange for peace is education. So, we need to fund that,” Gatchalian said.

Dela Rosa also emphasized that the proposed increase in funding is modest, especially when compared to the budget allocated for questionable flood control projects.

“Just one ghost flood control project in Bulacan, remove that and transfer the funds to OPAPRU. It only takes one project,” he said.

Legarda agreed with Dela Rosa, citing reports of overpricing in public works projects.

“We can’t go wrong with scholarships. Earlier, I heard DPWH project mark-ups are up to 30% nationwide. So if we reduce that, the savings should go to scholarships. There’s no 30% cut in this program — every peso goes to students,” she said.