MANILA, 29 August – Empowering young Filipino students to have a headstart for the school year, international gaming developer and publisher MOONTON Games launched a notebook distribution drive called "Balik Eskwela" and handed over more than 40,000 notebooks to 159 schools in General Trias, Dasmariñas, Quezon Province, San Pablo City, and Cavite Province.

The donation drive, formalized with the Department of Education (DepEd) through a memorandum of agreement signing, aims to support and encourage students in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon (CALABARZON), especially underprivileged pupils in their learning journey in the school year 2024-25.

Spearheaded by MOONTON Games, "Balik Eskwela" is the first step toward forming a long-lasting partnership with DepEd through various educational programs. MOONTON Games has been implementing partnerships with learning institutions in the past, including community events catering to primary and tertiary school learners. 

"MOONTON Games has advocated education as we believe in its importance in providing the foundation for lifelong learning. This donation drive showcases our commitment to helping young students by giving them the resources they need for continuous learning. We thank the Department of Education for this collaboration," said Ken Ryan Lee, Community Hero and Student Leader Community Manager, Game Marketing, MOONTON Philippines. 

Arvin Doloque, DepEd Project Development Officer II of the Bureau of Learner Support Services – Youth Formation Division said, "As the saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child," this very much resonates with the Department of Education as it cannot only fulfill its mandates on its own but with the help of the community and our generous partners and donors." 

"We are very much thankful for the partnership initiated by MOONTON Games helping our selected learner-recipients in the CALABARZON Region. Your generosity will go a long way, a simple deed to help our learners fulfill their dreams of what they want to become.  We are grateful for you selecting the education sector through your corporate social responsibility. We look forward to having a long-term partnership with MOONTON Games," Mr. Doloque added.

MOONTON Games has been an advocate of education in the Philippines with its various programs such as the Student Events and Partnerships Program (SEPP) which allows MOONTON Games and multiple universities to partner together to host MLBB events in their campus. 

The publisher behind Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) has signed a memorandum of agreement with the National University Laguna to foster gaming and esports in the university while developing students' various skill sets for a brighter future. Early this year, MOONTON Games also held career talks and creativity workshops for tertiary students of NU Laguna and Technological Institute of the Philippines - Quezon City. 

Moreover, MOONTON Games hosted esports and gaming journalism workshops in partnership with credible esports journalists from top media networks.