The hall buzzed with more than academic anticipation as the University of Cebu (UC) opened its doors for two separate 3-year diploma courses on Dec. 15, 2025.
The close to a thousand enrollees who gathered at the UC gymnasium at its Maritime Education and Training Center (METC) were not the usual wide-eyed freshmen fresh from senior high school.They either took Diploma in Tourism Management (DTM) and Diploma in Hospitality Management (DHM), noted METC campus director Capt. Gerry D. Enjambre, MM, MST.
They are part of the scholarship program under Republic Act 10931, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, offering free tuition and training in one of the country's largest and most prestigious universities.
For these scholars, the program that the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) rolled out on pilot in Cebu and the rest of the region is more than access to education. It is a deliberate strike against poverty and a bridge toward dignity, stability, and hope.
Lifeline
Sitting among mostly Gen Z senior high graduates were Millennials and Gen X enrollees. The atmosphere felt less like a first day of school and more like a quiet reunion with unfinished dreams.
For Grace dela Cerna, 48, who spent 13 years as a domestic helper in Hong Kong sometime after graduating at Abellana National School in 1994, returning to the classroom meant reclaiming a future she once postponed.
A single mother, Grace came home in 2023 to care for her daughter Sofia, then 15 and now 18, who got impaired in her left thigh bone after an accident during a school-related trip but, now in Grade 11, still studies at home with lessons in modules.
Between reselling groceries and working as a virtual assistant from midnight to dawn, she chose to enroll in DHM. "Determinado gyud ko," she said simply.
"Gusto nako maka-diploma, mag-bachelor pod gani ko, kay gusto ko makabaton og stable job, nga ma-stable pod pohon akong mga finances. Kung mahatagan ko og second chance maka-trabaho abroad, mang'apply ko'g hotel."
TESDA Cebu operations head Clarissa J. Geraldo told the scholars they may opt to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in TM or HM after the 3-year diploma program which would be mostly on-the-job training and a few qualifying subjects, if the curriculum requires it.
It is stipulated in the Philippine Credit Transfer System (PCTS), a seamless pathway from technical-vocational to college under a joint circular TESDA and the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) forged on April 14, 2023.
For Grace, the scholarship is not charity but a lifeline. It allows her to dream again of working in hotels or cruise ships, not merely as rank and file, but as someone qualified to lead.
Her story echoes across the hall.
Not giving up
Raised by a single mother and tasked with caring for nieces and nephews after high school, college felt like a distant world.
Years passed in stillness -- watching TV and playing mobile games -- until a Facebook post from UC changed everything. "Basi'g mao na ni," she remembered thinking.
Now enrolled, Christein sees the program as her chance to board a moving train she once feared she had missed. This even if she must drive her motorcycle every day from her home in Basak, Lapulapu City.
Her goal is to work abroad, perhaps on a cruise ship, managing kitchens and people, proving to herself that waiting does not mean giving up.
Progression
The same urgency drives Jerome Balansag, 33, the only son of a 60-year-old production worker, a single mother. He graduated in 2010 at Canduman National High School. Both now live in Umapad, Mandaue City.
After years of contractual factory work and short stints in hotel kitchens despite TESDA training, Jerome knew that, without credentials, he would remain stuck at minimum wage.
"With this diploma soon," he said, "naa ko'y mapakita."
For Jerome, education is leverage, proof that hard work deserves progression, and that ambition does not expire with age.
Betting on
For Brian Cabang, 35, who only finished high school in 2009 in Liloan, poverty meant working early and
working endlessly -- factories by day, fishing nets and massage work by necessity. College was never an option.
Married to a nurse now working abroad, Brian decided to enroll for his six-year-old child. "Para sa akong anak," he said, his voice steady.
With relatives helping care for his son and a fully paid motorcycle to take him to school, Brian views the scholarship as a rare alignment of timing and grace.
"Swerte ni nga naabot pa," he said, lucky that opportunity still found him.
"Tagsa ra kaayo ni nga libre tanan," she said.
For Lauri Ann, studying is not just personal fulfillment. It is an investment in her children's future, proof that learning does not stop at motherhood.
Young Dreams
Among the young scholars is Geraldine Iwayan, 18, a fresh senior high school graduate from Lawaan II, Talisay City. Unlike her other classmates, her obstacle was immediate: no financial support, no stable family income.
Still, she dreams boldly of working on a cruise ship, welcoming guests, cooking gourmet dishes like her buttered garlic shrimp.
"Dapat i-grab gyud nila," she urged fellow graduates.
Her presence reminds everyone that poverty cuts across generations; and so can opportunity.
Rebuilding
Completing the group is Junilyn Yanoc Zuñiga, 35, a solo parent of two boys, ages 12 and seven, juggling parenthood and survival through buy-and-sell work after years as a saleslady and cashier.
While at home in Inoburan, Naga City, she heard about the program through a live Facebook broadcast of the UC press conference last Dec. 5.
When she heard UC chairman Atty. Augusto W. Go spoke directly to mothers and fathers whose dreams were cut short by poverty, she felt seen.
"Maybe this is my chance," she thought, recalling the time she graduated high school yet in 2009 in Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental.
Now taking up DTM, Junilyn dreams not of luxury, but of stability of being able to support her children "og tarong," whether in a tourism establishment, government service, or even as a flight attendant.
Beyond scholarship
Individually, their stories are compelling. Collectively, they form a quiet but powerful testament to what accessible education can do.
TESDA will pay for their tuition, miscellaneous expenses, books, instructional materials and school uniforms, also testing fees for national certification from levels one to four.
Moving on, things may not be easy.
The separate allowance of ₱14,000 a month that goes to their respective Landbank ATM that TESDA will provide them with may not be enough for those who have children to rear.
Grace will need to endure her nocturnal duties, while Jerome intends to take sideline work in fast food outlets. Brian may still drive for motorcycle passengers, and Junilyn to be more entrepreneurial.
The UC-TESDA scholarship program does not erase hardship, nor does it promise instant success. What it does is more radical. It gives back one's capacity to exert meaningful influence over one's own life or circumstances.
It tells factory workers, single parents, former OFWs, and delayed dreamers that they are still worth investing in.
In classrooms that run only four hours a day, lives are being recalibrated. Poverty is being challenged not by slogans, but by skills, credentials, and renewed self-belief.
Dec. 29 deadline
As classes begin at UC METC, these seven scholars walk the same hallways as tens of thousands of students, but they carry something different.
They carry urgency, gratitude, the weight of families, children, and years of waiting, and now, finally, a way forward.
Though classes may have just started, enrollment at the UC METC study hall continues until Dec. 29 as classes go full swing by Jan. 5, 2026.
Graduates in senior high school, the pre-K-to-12 high school curriculum, completers of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of the Department of Education, and college undergraduates may qualify, regardless of age.
Applicants for the scholarship only need to bring their Form 137 or 138, or permanent record or report card, birth certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority, and a certificate of good moral character.
College undergrads will need an honorable dismissal, or transfer credentials, from the institution they last enrolled in, according to Dr. Dennis A. Samar, Ph.D., UC director for technical education.