Negros Occ LGU turns over P66.5M school bldg to NOHS

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The provincial government of Negros Occidental on Tuesday turned over the three-storey 45-classroom building to the Negros Occidental High School in this city.

Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. said the school building, which cost P66.5 million, will address the classroom shortage of the school, in fulfillment of one of his 11-point agenda, which was to provide quality education to the underprivileged school children.

Department of Education-6 Director Gemma Ledesma thanked the provincial government for addressing the problem of classrooms shortage. “This is a safe building for the school children,” she said.

The building was done upon the request of NOHS Principal Mario Amaca after a compromised agreement was reached by the DepEd and the provincial government to return the 43,791-square meter Paglaum Sports Complex property to the Capitol, which paved the way for the establishment of the Cyber Centre.

In the agreement, the Capitol constructed a 24-classroom building but added another six classrooms after the demolition of the six-classroom dilapidated building. The funds were sourced out from the Provincial School Board.

Meanwhile, Marañon said he is now planning to build a music and arts building next year or in 2017. “Let us just remember that this is a provincial high school. This is owned by the province. This must be supported by the province.”

The governor said many alumni from the public high school overcame poverty and became successful. “They were able to go to higher education because of the basic education provided by NOHS,” he added. — Marchel P. Espina (FREEMAN)