RP, Spain sign P70-M classroom construction, repair project

The Department of Education (DepEd) yesterday signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for a P70-million project to construct, repair and rehabilitate 130 school classrooms in seven school divisions nationwide.

DepEd officer-in-charge and Education Undersecretary Fe Hidalgo signed the MOA on behalf of DepEd while Spanish Ambassador Ignacio Sagaz signed the agreement on behalf of the government of Spain.

The MOA signing took place at the DepEd central office in Pasig City. Also present were Agencia Española de Cooperacion International (AECI) coordinator-general Jose Maria Taberne and Norberto Gomez de Liano, the deputy coordinator general of the AECI.

In a statement, Hidalgo said the funding of P70 million will cover the rehabilitation of seven division schools.

"We are left with the fact that we keep running just to keep in place, but not to move forward, in terms of building classrooms and repairs (for) classrooms in the past," Hidalgo said. "A lot of the help that we have in terms of responding to this comes from people of goodwill who help us in this rehabilitation."

She said the Spanish aid for the construction and rehabilitation of classrooms will cover areas in the provinces of Aurora, Quezon, Iloilo, Zamboanga, Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Lanao del Sur, in areas hit hard by typhoons and floods and where deteriorating school buildings need major repairs. Hidalgo said there was one school site in Calapan, Mindoro Oriental that had been submerged in floods.

These are the areas with acute shortages, as well as urgent need for repairs to classrooms, she added.

Sagaz said it is particularly satisfying for him and his team to be there with the Education undersecretary.

"This project... originated (from) a conversation I had with President (Arroyo) last year during the consultative group meeting in Davao," Sagaz said, expressing satisfaction that the project agreement had been signed.

"Knowing that one of the President’s main projects is to facilitate schooling and education to all Filipinos, I made a commitment to (her) that I would help in whatever capacity I could to restore and enhance the facilities in the parts of the Philippines that have been affected by the flooding and the typhoons at that time," Sagaz said.

Sagaz said that, less than a year after that meeting, he has the satisfaction of beginning this project for the construction and rehabilitation of 130 school classrooms with DepEd. The project will be carried out over 12 months, he added.

He said the cities of Zamboanga, Cotabato, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, which Spain will be helping out, are important to the Spanish community.

He said these cities play a very important role in the history of bilateral relations between the Philippines and Spain.

Likewise, just three weeks ago, the Philippines and Spain inked a pact in which the Spanish government pledged funding for development projects worth 30 million euros (P18.97 billion) to the Philippines. The agreement was signed during a development cooperation conducted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sagaz said this commitment by Spain was made in coordination with the United Nations and Mrs. Arroyo’s education program as identified in her 10-point legacy agenda.

He said the construction and rehabilitation of schools in the country, particularly in Mindanao, could contribute substantially to the peace process.