23/06/2025
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ
After 18 months of careful planning, tireless fundraising, and close collaboration, the UP Cadet Alumni Organization (UPCAO) โ in partnership with the National Service Reserve Corps UPD, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, especially the 11th Infantry Division, and the Hernandez Library โ successfully concluded the Patindug Community Outreach Project with the formal blessing and turnover of newly constructed classrooms and school supplies to partner schools in Sulu.
Conceived in late 2023 as a grassroots initiative to demonstrate the transformative power of unity and service, Patindug began as a simple idea: to show that when diverse sectors โ academic, civic, and military โ come together for a common cause, meaningful change happens. What followed was a year and a half of dedicated work that included securing the NSRC Reservist Grant, raising donations through community garage sales and small fundraising campaigns, engaging like-minded stakeholders, and earning support from generous sponsors and partners.
The classrooms, handed over on June 13โ14, 2025 to Tuwak Primary School in Patikul, Sulu, will now stand as a safe, welcoming environment for Suluโs youth to grow and learn. Throughout the two-day visit, UPCAO also hosted a day of fun with the children and engaged with teachers, school leaders, local elders, LGU representatives, and AFP personnel to listen to their hopes for future initiatives.
In a heartfelt message during the turnover, UPCAO Vice President Matthew Louis Olaer shared the message of UPCAO President Fergie John Frange:
โPatindug was never just about building classrooms. It was about coming together โ students, alumni, educators, soldiers, and communities โ to show that unity can move mountains. Thank you to everyone who believed in this project. Together, we have proven that even the most remote schools deserve every chance to dream big. Padayon, aton nga mga kabataan! Padayon para sa bayan!โ
This successful outreach would not have been possible without the generosity of our sponsors and the steadfast commitment of our partners: local LGUs, UP Vanguard Makati Chapter, UP Vanguard Manila Chapter, and the numerous other contributors who supported Patindug every step of the way.
As the Patindug Community Outreach Project concludes this chapter, UPCAO looks toward the future โ hopeful that the seeds planted in Sulu will inspire similar initiatives across other underserved communities.
