P418 M worth of modern schoolbuildings due in Ecija’s Pantabangan

PANTABANGAN, Nueva Ecija – An estimated P418 million worth of schoolbuildings in this mountain resort town are set to be constructed by the municipal government which, once finished, will modernize all schools here in 2009.

Mayor Romeo Borja Sr. told The STAR the school­buildings that will be constructed soon will house 200 classrooms, home economics building, library, computer room and DVD and TV monitors.

“One these have been set in place, Pantabangan’s elementary schools will be one of the most modern in the entire country,” he said.

Borja said funding for the schoolbuilding project will come from the Special Education Fund of the municipal government to be drawn from collections of Real Property Taxes (RPT). He said that 500 laminated armchairs have also been acquired by the municipal government for use of the schools.

Borja said the municipal government will also provide infrastructure facilities for the three National High Schools in the town, including the Ganduz NHS where a one-hectare lot was donated by the mayor for the construction of its building.

Apart from the schoolbuilding boom, a Teachers’ Camp, similar to the one earlier put up in Baguio City will also be constructed starting next month in a five-hectare site in Barangay East Poblacion at a cost of P200 million.

Borja said the project will also be funded through the SEF. He said that the campsite will house a jamboree site which can accommodate between 1,000 to 2,000 Boy Scouts, a convention center, villa, children’s playground and a family room that can house up to 1,000 persons.  

The infrastructure boom in this town, which is hailed as Nueva Ecija’s version of “little Baguio,” according to Borja, was part of the municipal government’s efforts to lay the support infrastructure requirements for its eventual transition into a tourist mecca in the eastern part of the province.

Borja said many tourists have expressed interest in Pantabangan which is considered as a cross between Baguio City and Tagaytay City with its cold climate, inviting sceneries and stable peace and order condition.