Lopez Group’s school rebuilding program nears completion

ORMOC CITY, Leyte, June 13, (PNA) – The Lopez Group of Companies inaugurated on Saturday a two-classroom schoolhouse at Margen National High School in this city.

The program also served as closing-out ceremony of the project which aims to build typhoon-resilient school buildings in areas hit by super typhoon Yolanda and other disasters.

The school rebuilding project began in February 2014 after the Lopez Group volunteered to become a sponsor in the rehabilitation work, focused mainly on constructing classrooms. It committed to the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery to build 65 classrooms.

The original target area was Leyte due to Yolanda, beginning with Php 84 million collected by ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation from local and international donors. As it turned out, 75 classrooms were built and 10 repaired in six towns in Leyte, Samar and Passi in Iloilo.

Because of its success, the project reached up to phase three, boosted by a USD1 million donation from First Gen Corp., which was used to build 16 buildings. After that, all eight companies of the Lopez Group took part in the endeavor, enabling the program’s expansion to include additional areas hit by other calamities.

Now included are Iloilo, Capiz and Aklan in Panay Island that were also devastated by Yolanda; the typhoon-prone provinces of Sorsogon and Albay in Bicol; and Bohol which was damaged by the 2013 earthquake. Completing the list are two schools in the mountain areas of Bukidnon.

Rockwell Land Corp. built six buildings; First Balfour, four; and First Philec Corp. and ThermaPrime Well Services, one each. On the other hand, First Philippine Industrial Park committed Php 1.3 million for the chairs in the schools donated by First Gen and First Philec.

The classrooms feature cathedral type ceilings, and wider windows and insulated roofing for better ventilation. Other amenities are the concave designed blackboards, four wall fans, LED lights and comfort rooms with lavatories. Each classroom also comes with 45 arm chairs and teacher’s table and chair.

So far, the project has completed 50 schoolhouses with 118 rooms in Samar, Iloilo, Capiz and Bukidnon. Sixteen more buildings with 32 classrooms are scheduled for completion between July and September 2016 when the program is concluded, project manager Leonardo Ablaza said.

By yearend, the Lopez Group will have delivered 151 classrooms worth Php 196 million in 11 provinces, some of them in difficult areas. This exceeds the 65 classrooms it originally committed to Oparr. More than 9,000 students will benefit from this donation annually based on the average 60 students per classroom. (PNA)
RMA/SQM/FELIX N. CODILLA/EGR