Allied Botanical Corporation has chosen three grantees of its scholarship program at the Southern Luzon State University’s College of Agriculture in Lucban, Quezon. The scholars who were chosen after their final interview are Mary Joy D. Capunitan, Mary Kristine T. Dinglasan and Pia P. Monares, who received their scholarship certificates on Dec. 10 from ABC marketing manager Virnel R. Ventura. Ventura represented ABC president and general manager Willy U. Co who was abroad at the time.

The three students comprise ABC’s second batch of scholars, after the six grantees of the Benguet State University in La Trinidad, Benguet.

Capunitan is a second-year BS in Environment Science student, who is taking the course because she wants to gain knowledge to help protect the environment, especially of Mt. Banahaw.

She is from Sampaloc, one of the towns around Quezon province’s most notable landmark and vital environment and agriculture gauge.

The SLSU is a leading advocate of the preservation and management of Mt. Banahaw.

The daughter of a tenant-grower of rice and vegetables in Tiaong town, Dinglasan chose to enroll in SLSU’s Agriculture campus in Lucban even if she can take the same course in the university’s campus in her hometown.

According to her, the Lucban college is an established one and has produced many professional agriculturists, like what she aspires to be after she graduates. She’s a 2nd yr. Bachelor of Agricultural Technology student.

Monares is taking up the same course but is already in her junior year. She hails from Guinayangan town and is spending the current semester as on-the-job trainee at the Bureau of Animal Industry’s National Swine and Poultry Research and Development Center in Tiaong.

The Allied Botanical Corp. scholarship covers the grantees’ tuition and matriculation fees and entitles them to a P1,000 monthly allowance until they graduate. ABC is the leading Filipino firm breeding, producing and distributing seeds of high-yield, pest resistant and nutritious vegetables and other crops. It also markets other farm inputs. -- Tony Rodriguez