“Sa Lungsod ng San Pedro, edukasyon ang laging una. We ensure that every child in the city has the tools needed to succeed.”—Mayor Art Mercado
Coming from an affluent family, Mayor Art Joseph Francis Mercado grew up with all the opportunities for gaining a quality education.
He loved to study and had a natural knack for numbers, enabling him to graduate cum laude in Economics at the prestigious University of San Francisco in the United States.
Mercado saw what education can do to better the chances of an individual in life. Education was the ladder to upward social mobility that opened countless socio-economic, cultural, and even political opportunities.
But he knew that for education to be fruitful, it had to have a solid foundation. And for the many students of San Pedro, this started with giving them a sturdy support structure for study.
FREE SCHOOL BAGS, SUPPLIES, UNIFORMS
In 2022, during his first year as mayor, Mercado spearheaded the City Government’s pioneering program of distributing FREE school bags, school supplies and uniforms to public-school students in the city.
The program was designed to lessen the burden of parents in meeting the school expenses of their children, even as it gave the students a palpable incentive to pursue an elementary and high school education.
Public school pupils from Grade 1 to Grade 10 were covered by the program, while free school uniforms were provided to those in Grades 11 and 12.
“This is the first time in the history of San Pedro that this—distribution of free school bags, school supplies, and uniform—happened. Education is very important to me and is the biggest thing for me since I started as Mayor. We are now on our third year,” Mercado said with pride.
Realizing the logistics involved in implementing the program across San Pedro’s 20 public elementary schools and seven public high school, the City Government designed the operationalization of the program on a staggered basis.
Bags and school supplies were distributed during the program’s first year (2022). Free uniforms came during the second year (2023). The full implementation of the program from school bags and school supplies to uniforms occurred by the third year (2024)—when 96,203 school bags and supplies, as well as 51,979 school uniforms were distributed for free. The 2024 distribution was completed toward the end of August.
All told, over a three-year period (2022-2024), the program has distributed 104,049 school uniforms for public school students, as well as 79,084 school bags and supplies for both public and private students.
“Sa Lungsod ng San Pedro, edukasyon ang laging una. We ensure that every child in the city has the tools needed to succeed,” Mercado said.
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The San Pedro City Scholarship (SPECS) program is open to all underprivileged but deserving college students, who are bona fide San Pedro residents. The annual earnings of each student’s family must not exceed P300,000 per year.
Started in 2014, the scholarship program was continued and even expanded by Mercado. Requirements consist of two passport-sized photos, a Commission on Elections certificate of the applicant or of his or her parents, a certified true copy of grades with dry seal, the original and photocopy of the report card of senior high school graduates, and the original and photocopy of the school registration form for the current semester.
Mercado announced that for Academic Year 2024-2025, the number of SPECS scholars have increased by 300%. “Yun ang bilin ko sa ating City Education Department: To increase our scholars yearly, since I took over.”
Active scholars from 2024 to 2025 total 5,300 students. Every month of July, financial help is given to all public and private elementary, high school, and college graduates residing in San Pedro—a total of some 7,000 students from 2023 to 2024.
The young mayor said it was inspiring to see San Pedro students doing well. “Ang aking tanging hiling sa mga kabataan natin dito ngayon ay mag-aral kayo nang mabuti. Para sa inyong mga magulang, makatapos kayo ng kolehiyo [My only request to our San Pedro youth is to study well. For your parents, finish college].”
NEW SCHOOL BUILDINGS, EDUCATION 4.0
Mercado said he has met with the Local School Board and discussed with its members the possible acquisition of various school sites to construct new school buildings.
He added that they give benefits to the city’s teachers to show appreciation for their efforts to impart knowledge and skills to the students.
“I pray for a Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng San Pedro. Hopefully we can build it soon so that San Pedro can have its own university,” Mercado said.
Under Mercado’s watch and in close coordination with the Department of Education, the city’s Education Research Program is in the process of crafting what they called as Education 4.0, in line with the plan to digitize and introduce innovations to education in the city.
Part of the reformulated Education program is the incorporation of sampaguita farming in all levels with Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE), as part of the city government’s efforts to revive the sampaguita industry.—Trixzy Leigh Bonotan
