Aboitiz, Mandaue turn over 2 school buildings

CEBU, Philippines - The Aboitiz Foundation Incorporation and the Mandaue City government officially turned over the two three-story three-classroom buildings to Pagsabungan Elementary School and Canduman Elementary School last Monday.

Aboitiz Foundation Incorporated officials also turned over the ceremonial keys and the newly completed buildings to DepEd division officials, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, city councilors, and barangay captains.

During his speech, Jon Ramon Aboitiz, president of Aboitiz Foundation Inc., said the donation is in line with the commitment of Aboitiz to help improve the quality of education in the city.

"We believe that the greatest legacy that we can leave to our children is education and we also believe that our youth is the future of our nation," he said.

It was 16 years ago when Aboitiz shifted its focus to make education the main thrust of its social development initiatives, he said.

"More than 50 percent of Aboitiz Foundation's annual budget for projects is allocated for the education related concerns," Aboitiz said.

"We in Aboitiz strongly believe that the business sector plays a role in helping and assisting in the social development projects for our people and in partnership between business and local city government and barangays," he said.

He also said that the foundation has already constructed over 238 classrooms that are used by over 20,000 of students nationwide.

Aboitiz said that aside from building classrooms, the Aboitiz Foundation also supports over 1,300 students through scholarship grants for poor but deserving students from pre-school to college. "Our assistance in the area of education goes beyond the formal structure of the Department of Education (Dept Ed)," he said.

He also added that they are hoping that the buildings will help the improvement in the quality of education of the youth in Mandaue.

The three story classroom building in Pagsabungan Elementary School is worth P2.4 million and the other three-classroom building at Canduman Elementary School is worth P2.4 million.   (FREEMAN NEWS)