By DANIEL P. TAPAOAN, JR.

At least 117 MMSU students who are stranded due to the extended Luzon-wide Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) received food packs from the university’s Alumni Relations Office (ARO) and Federated Alumni Association, Inc. (FAAI) today, April 17.

In cooperation with the City Government of Batac, the distribution of food packs was led by Prof. Ryan Dean T. Sucgang, ARO chief, and Mr. Jan Francis O. Javier, director of the university’s security services.

The ARO and FAAI allotted around PhP 60,000 to purchase the food packs, a fund that came from their Alumni ID Card program.

Prof. Sucgang said each student received three kilos of rice, two cans of corned beef, three cans of tuna, four instant noodles, six sachets of shampoo, one bath soap, and one bread loaf.

Of the 117 stranded students, 90 are staying in their dormitories in the City of Batac, while the rest are in Currimao, Paoay and Laoag City, the ARO Chief said.

He added that Mr. Javier has already coordinated with the focal persons in Laoag City, Paoay and Currimao for the distribution of food packs.

Yesterday, City of Batac Mayor Albert D. Chua, together with FAAI President Bismark Angelo A. Quidang, Prof. Sucgang, and CDRRMO Chief Arvin Francis Lumang, personally monitored the repacking of relief goods at the Relief Operations Center, KALIPI Building.

Prof. Sucgang hopes that the alumni office and association can conduct the “next wave” of relief package distribution to the stranded students despite the difficulties in purchasing goods due to the low supply and slow deliveries.

He has also encouraged all the alumni of MMSU, here in the country or even abroad, to share their experiences and efforts during this crisis.

“As we wish to continually spread a message of hope, we wish to feature our alumni’s initiatives and efforts in our active Facebook page (@mmsualumniofficial) and website (alumni.mmsu.edu.ph),” Prof. Sucgang said. 

For the MMSU alumni who are serving the frontlines amidst the crisis, the ARO is requesting them to answer the quick-response questionnaire called the MMSU Alumni Front-liner Tracker (AFTrack) accessible thru https://forms.gle/aZrGZWHfezKdbLHZ8f. (StratCom)