MANILA, Philippines – Security Bank Foundation Inc. (SBFI), the corporate social responsibility arm of Security Bank Corp., turned over three new school buildings in Bulacan and Pampanga on Nov. 9.
The turnovers bring the total of SBFI’s school building donations to 65, a fitting celebration of the Bank’s 65th anniversary.
The school buildings are part of SBFI’s “Build A School, Build A Nation: The Classrooms Project,” a partnership with the Department of Education, local government units and educational institutions such as Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle Philippines in response to the government’s call for help to reduce classroom shortage.
The ribbon-cutting and turnover ceremonies were attended by Security Bank senior executives led by president and CEO Alfonso Salcedo Jr. and SBFI representatives led by chairman Rafael Simpao Jr.
Also present were San Fernando Pampanga Mayor Edwin Santiago, Baliwag, Bulacan Mayor Ferdinand Estrella, and San Fernando Pampanga superintendent Imelda Macaspac.
The newly inaugurated school buildings house 18 classrooms that will benefit 900 to 1,500 students per school year.
The school building donation to Calulut Integrated School in San Fernando, Pampanga to be used by senior high school students is seen to address the school’s classroom shortage.
In Baliwag, Bulacan, both Josefa V. Ycasiano Memorial School and Sabang Elementary School are in need of better learning facilities. The new school buildings will provide more solid structures for students compared to the schools’ old classrooms which are below DepEd standards and already require major repairs.
Students will now be able to focus well on their studies because of better ventilation and lighting, and will not anymore get drenched by rain because of roof leaks. SBFI is the first and only foundation to donate buildings to the mentioned schools.
Last December the Foundation turned over 12 more classrooms to two public schools in Tarlac.
By yearend, the Foundation hopes to have constructed and formally turned over a total of 311 classrooms to 67 public school beneficiaries in 39 cities and municipalities throughout the Philippines.
These classrooms will benefit an estimate of 30,000 students every school year.