A PROMISE was fulfilled on July 11, 2025, as the Pay It Forward: A Digital Transformation Advocacy campaign reached Camp Bagong Amai Pakpak Elementary School in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman teamed up with leaders from both the public and private sectors to fulfill the mission of bridging the country’s digital divide.
Adding deeper significance to the event, DBM Sec. Pangandaman—being a proud native of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)—saw it as a meaningful way to give back to her roots.
It Began With A Vision
Back on April 25, the DBM collaborated with RepublicAsia Media Inc., iACADEMY, GMA Network, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the Department of Education (DepEd) to kick off the Pay It Forward – Marawi campaign.
During the memorandum of agreement signing, Sec. Pangandaman underscored the urgency of visiting Marawi and the wider BARMM area to deliver essential digital tools for learning without delay.
“Bakit po BARMM?” Pangandaman asked why the region needed immediate aid. “Because there’s still no improvement in terms of basic literacy and functional literacy.”
“What strucked me is, while the entire Philippines ay mababa ang score na nakuha sa survey compared to our neighboring countries, pinaka mababa po na score is ‘yung BARMM. Where I came from.”
“It’s really low, talagang disturbing ‘yung number. That’s why we really need to keep doing something like [Pay It Forward], and invest on education and on our children to ensure na may future po tayo,” she added.
Promise Fulfilled
Even after a few months of waiting, the mission remains unchanged—to keep investing in the future of the youth, particularly the children of Marawi, who are still on the path to recovery from the 2017 siege.
“Kailangan pondohan natin ang edukasyon, pondohan natin ang mga kabataan,” the DBM secretary emphasized during the brief speech last Friday.
“Kaya po nandito kami para matugunan ang pangangailangan ng ating mga kabataan, lalong lalo na po dito sa Mindanao. Wala pong maiiwan, Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, lahat po tayo sabay sabay aangat,” she added.
With 150 tablets and 3 smart TVs now distributed to the students of Camp Bagong Amai Pakpak Elementary School, the Pay It Forward campaign takes a significant step toward promoting digital inclusion.
This initiative signals the start of a wider commitment to empower communities, work toward a brighter national future, and close the education gap—one student, one school at a time.
