Four years ago, Renelyn Udtohan from Valencia, Negros Oriental was given a fighting chance of opening doors of opportunities to help her family break out from the vicious cycle of poverty as a SIKAT scholar of renewable energy leader Energy Development Corp.
With hope and her grand dreams for her family, Renelyn became laser-focused on her studies as a BS Mathematics student at Negros Oriental State University, one of the premier public academic tertiary institutions in the Province.
Not even the CoViD-19 pandemic that limited her and her batchmates to distance learning for two years of their college life could stop her, not just from graduating but from finishing at the top of her class.
Her achievement as this year’s summa cum laude is even more special because it is the highest graduation honors attained so far among alumni of the prestigious SIKAT scholarship program of EDC.
SIKAT identifies deserving high school graduates within EDC’s geothermal energy production sites across the country and helps them gain acceptance into state universities and colleges.
SIKAT further supports their college education not only financially but through personality and social development skills. SIKAT’s assistance further extends to mentoring, career guidance, and board exam review sessions if needed. Then, through job placement assistance, SIKAT graduates are able to find jobs within EDC or elsewhere in the private or public sector.
“SIKAT takes precedence among EDC’s corporate social responsibility initiatives because it has proven that education is a catalyst for progress and a better life for the underprivileged members of our society,” said Norreen Bautista, head of EDC’s corporate relations in Negros Island.
Established in 2011, SIKAT has so far sent a total of 256 scholars to state colleges and universities, and produced a total of 133 graduates, 75 percent of whom are now gainfully employed in the private sector.
For 2022, SIKAT produced 43 graduates, nine of them from Negros Island. This year’s batch yielded 19 graduates with latin honors, the highest number among all batches in the program, including Renelyn as its first summa cum laude; Jhayvan Eve Quitoy, one of two magna cum laudes and now a BS Economics degree holder from UP Visayas; and Maureen Autor, who graduated cum laude with a degree in BS Applied Mathematics from UP Visayas-Miagao.
SIKAT also supports young students in basic education. As part of its annual outreach activities, the program distributes school supplies and participates in the Department of Education’s Brigada Eskwela drive.
To date, SIKAT assists 90 public schools as part of its yearly outreach program, benefitting more than 20,000 children. The program also extends financial assistance to selected K—12 students, apart from training for teachers and tutorial sessions for the kids.
For her part, Udtohan recognizes the invaluable help that SIKAT has provided scholars like her. “We were able to become individuals we could never have imagined before,” she said.
“As we move forward, remember to pay it forward. Let us continue to serve our community and be a source of hope for the next generation,” she also reminded her fellow graduates and scholars.
Energy Development Corp. is First Gen Corporation’s 100-percent RE subsidiary, with over 1,480 megawatts total installed capacity that accounts for 19 percent of the country’s total installed RE capacity. EDC’s 222.5 Southern Negros geothermal facility in Valencia, Negros Oriental is a part of its 1,188 MW geothermal portfolio that comprises 62 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity. (PR)
