DOST postpones scholarship exams in Zamboanga, nearby provinces

Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The continued fighting between government security forces and guerrillas of the Moro National Liberation Front in Zamboanga City has forced the Department of Science and Technology to postpone the qualifying exams for college scholarships originally scheduled on Saturday, September 22.

Science Secretary Mario Montejo announced on Wednesday the postponement of the DOST-Science Education Institute’s 2014 Undergraduate Scholarship Examination for Zamboanga City and nearby provinces.

The exams in Dipolog City, Pagadian City and the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi were also postponed.

SEI Director Dr. Filma Brawner said they will announce the new schedule after the Zamboanga City crisis is resolved and the situation goes back to normal.

The postponement affects 1,809 examinees who are due to take the scholarship exams in eight test centers in the affected places.

The scholarship exams, however, will be administered as scheduled on September 22 in other areas throughout the country.

The exams will be administered in 141 test centers nationwide. A total of 35,562 graduating high school students are slated to take the exams.

Montejo said the DOST Region IX office recommended the postponement in the cities of Dipolog and Pagadian.

He said the exams in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi also had to be postponed because the examiners from these areas need to take the plane or ferry to get to their test centers in Zamboanga City.

The airport and ferry service in Zamboanga City have been closed since armed MNLF rebels occupied the city’s coastal barangays last September 9.