De La Salle University signed a Deed of Donation on July 16, formally establishing the Julius Manalo Scholarship Grant. The grant will provide vital support to an incoming freshman STEM student, offering a living allowance to help cover dormitory and daily expenses — easing the financial burdens that often accompany university life.

The scholarship grant is named in honor of Mr. Julius Manalo, whose resilience and life journey have inspired many. By recognizing his story, DLSU hopes to encourage future scholars to embrace the Lasallian spirit of compassion, service, and paying it forward.

Lessons Beyond the Classroom

Long before he became a finance professor at Illinois State University, Dr. Domingo Castelo Joaquin (“Deedo”) was a young high school graduate determined to study at De La Salle College. His years at La Salle in the 1970s coincided with one of the most transformative periods in Philippine history. Campuses across the country became centers of student activism, and La Salle was no exception. When the student council declared a boycott, students marched from Taft Avenue to Plaza Miranda to join demonstrations against social injustice.

One encounter has stayed with him for more than five decades. During one protest, a jeepney driver waved him over and quietly handed him some money. When Joaquin asked what it was for, the driver replied, “Salamat sa pagprotesta ninyo. Gusto ko ring sumali, pero kailangan kong magpasada.” The amount was only enough for merienda, but for Joaquin, it represented something far greater—it affirmed that their efforts mattered to ordinary Filipinos.