Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative and House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos led the rollout of major education programs under the PBBM-GABAY ng Bayan initiative at the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena in Laoag City on Friday.

The launch was part of the 2nd Joint Education Trifocal Management Committee Meeting, where CHED, DepEd, TESDA, and the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) aligned their programs to improve access and relevance across the country’s education system.

A key highlight was the ceremonial signing of a joint memorandum circular on the Policies and Guidelines for the Bagong Pilipinas Merit Scholarship Program (BPMSP) by CHED, DepEd, and TESDA. The circular sets a unified framework to ensure the scholarship program is implemented smoothly across all education agencies.

Under the PBBM-GABAY ng Bayan initiative, the BPMSP represents the “Galing” component. It is a competitive, merit-based scholarship open to top-performing senior high school graduates nationwide — from public and private schools, including the Philippine Science High School System — as well as qualified TESDA National Certificate holders.

The “Akses” component, Project PEPA (Patuloy na Edukasyon, Patuloy na Pag-Ahon), is a nationwide information caravan designed to give 4Ps families timely and accurate details on government-funded education opportunities.

For “Batid,” CHED launched TANAW, a national higher education data visualization platform that integrates information on schools, enrollment, scholarships, and graduate outcomes — helping students make informed choices and supporting evidence-based planning.