President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. personally distributed P20,000 in scholarships each to 4,426 college students from Manila on Wednesday, part of a new nationwide initiative to combat rising college dropout rates.

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso praised the President during the distribution event at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, noting that the national government has continued to prioritize the capital city.

The cash distribution totaled P88.52 million for the beneficiaries, who were selected from Manila’s 896 barangays across its six congressional districts.

Marcos said the scholarship program, titled “Bawat Bayan ay Makikinabang,” targets students who are close to finishing their degrees but are at risk of dropping out because of financial constraints.

“We said, choose five students from each barangay who we will give assistance to,” Marcos said. “Choose those who are about to graduate, but might not be able to finish because they lack the funds, need to work, or whatever the reason may be.”