THE first public school in Catigbian’s Santo Nino parish rises miraculously from rice lands in a nook in Hagbuaya village, this came after local officials led by Mayor Roberto Salinas asked for it from the Department of Education (DepED).
The new public secondary school would be the first one to serve constituents in the nine villages within the Baang parish catch-ment.
Most of the public schools in this town are established within the Immaculate Mary Parish catch-ment and putting up one public school accessible to the people in Baang excites us, claimed education committee chair and Councilor Zip Lastimosa recently.
The plan took a dizzying turn when the DepEd nodded to it, after only three weeks of processing, he said.
Mayor Salinas said this might even be the shortest time for a school application to gain its base, one tough gamble they took when they opened first and second year high school classes at the nearby Hagbuaya Elementary School, even while submitting their application papers.
He said the town also shouldered the eventual pay for the teachers contracted to manage the classes.
With the DepED green-lighting the project, local officials doubled up and successfully sourced out up at least four two-classroom buildings to transform the lot into a veritable school compound as the school year opens next year, Salinas bared.
The favorable DepEd action also enthused residents to ride with the momentum: Juan Tagsa and his family allocated a hectare of property and transferred it without cost in favor of the government for the school buildings and compound.
The local government dipped half a million from its coffers for the ground leveling and surface stabilization for the hectare-wide lot to house the compound.
The Provincial Government through the Governor Erico Aumentado and Vice Governor Julius Caesar Herrera pitched in P1.2M worth of two 2-classroom buildings from its special education fund sources.
Taking the bandwagon is District Representative Edgar Chatto who also pledged funds for another 2 classroom building set to rise anytime soon, reported Salinas who stopped by for the inspection after passing through form a meeting in Bilar.
Well meaning Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry also intimated putting up another two classroom building one that would be ready for occupancy in June 2010, Salinas said. (PIA)
