STAR plants knowledge in a field of hope

COMPOSTELA, Compostela Valley, Philippines – It was a heartwarming sight: tears of anguish that were shed following the devastation from last year’s killer Typhoon Pablo turned into tears of joy when The Philippine STAR handed over a newly constructed school building to the Corazon C. Aquino High School in Compostela Valley.

It was as if cries of despair that recently reverberated in this town where Pablo unleashed its fury had disappeared, the bitter memory of a disaster quickly forgotten.

Operation Damayan, the STAR Group of Publications’ charitable arm, through its Adopt-A-School program, brought immeasurable joy to close to 400 high school students in the typhoon-stricken town of Compostela, Compostela Valley with the turnover last May 31of a six-classroom school building worth P3 million in time for this week’s opening of classes.

It was difficult for the students to contain their joy at the sight of their brand-new school, which authorities said was “the best” in Compostela Valley.

With P5 in hand, 14-year-old Louie Jay Etang would typically take an eight-kilometer walk each way from his home in Sitio Uno, Purok Baclog, Barangay Osmeña, Compostela town in Compostela Valley to get to his old school. It was no different for his close buddy Romulo Guarte Jr. as with hundreds of other students in Barangay Osmena who had gotten used to wading through stretches of dirt paths in the middle of a vast banana plantation just to make it to school daily.

Owing to these long walks to school, the dropout rate at Compostela National High School was understandably high, especially among those coming from far-flung barrios. This prompted school teacher Sandy Yee, 33, to initiate the establishment of an extension high school for the kids  in Sitio Baclog, Barangay Osmeña and its environs.

“We wanted to provide quality education to high school students residing in Baclog and its neighboring areas and at the same time augment the students’ knowledge in various specialized areas such as English, Mathematics, Science and Technology and Technology and Livelihood education, and others,” Yee told The STAR.

Yee got an initial approval from the Department of Education for the proposed extension high school and named it Corazon Aquino High School. The problem was, they had a school with a name but did not have a school building.

With the support of parents and villagers, a local cooperative leased out an old warehouse and solar rice dryer that served as their temporary school building last year. In true bayanihan fashion, parents and teachers worked together to turn the bare warehouse into a two-classroom school with no windows.

Then, as fate would have it, super storm ‘Pablo’ struck on December 4, 2012, and life was never the same again.

Field of Hope

In one of his frequent visits to the Compostela Valley provincial capitol in the neighboring town of Nabunturan to ask for assistance, Yee chanced upon a group of volunteers from The Philippine STAR’s Operation Damayan coordinating with Gov. Arthur Uy for a scheduled relief operation for ‘Pablo’ victims.

He was hoping that The STAR would help their school build even just one classroom, and followed the group wherever they went.

It was go for broke. “Had The STAR not come into the picture,” Yee said, “we already had plans of planting the donated lot with vegetables and other agricultural crops and to sell the produce so the school could raise money for the proposed school building.”

The 5,000-sqm. vacant lot was a generous donation of one of the parents, Merciditas Alima. 

But STAR president and CEO Miguel Belmonte, who graced the turnover, had other plans in mind.

“It would be better to plant the seed of knowledge, which would go a longer way than agricultural harvest,” he said when informed of Yee and the villagers’ plan for the donated lot.

Recognizing the persistence and dedication of Yee and his group of teachers to provide education for the children, The STAR took the cudgels for the group.

“It is hard not to support people like Sandy and his fellow teachers who are so committed in their desire to provide education to those children,” Belmonte said. Thereupon, Belmonte approved the plan to build a six-classroom school building. 

Incidentally, the vacant lot that Alima donated was called ‘Pag-asa’ (hope) by the villagers. 

“It is like Operation Damayan planting the seeds of knowledge in a field of hope,” Yee said of the building that came complete with toilets in each room, armchairs, as well as a library, a school clinic, DVD and projectors, a water system, a pathway, among others. 

For the next 60 days, Damayan operations chief Emie Cruz spearheaded the construction of the school building and involved the community members.

The construction of the school building culminated in turnover rites held last May 31 with Belmonte in attendance together with wife Milette, local officials led by Uy, incumbent vice governor Ramil Gentugaya and incoming vice governor  Manuel Zamora, as well as DepEd representative Mrs. Claro. A 19-man Damayan team were also on hand to conduct the turnover.

Turnover Fiesta

What was supposed to be a simple ceremony turned out to be one big fiesta the residents of Barangay Osmeña, young and old alike, would remember for a long time. 

School children who were enrolled at the Corazon Aquino High School were each treated to new school uniforms, school bags, pair of slippers as well as games and other contests. 

Food was served to everyone in the barangay while the Jollibee mascot entertained the audience. Even the adults had the time of their lives posing for pictures.

Belmonte noted how strong the bayanihan spirit is among the residents themselves who came in full force to witness the turnover.

The entire barangay even went on with the merrymaking long after The STAR’sOperation Damayan team had left. 

“We feasted on the leftover lechon and whatever food there was until night time. We really could not contain our joy,” Yee shared.

But what touched Belmonte and the team of volunteers the most were the tears the students, teachers and parents couldn’t help shedding as they rendered song numbers in an effort to thank the group.

Liza Jane Morales stressed what a big help the donation of the school building is to them especially to her parents who do not have to spend that much anymore for their schooling.

Analiza Pardillo, 38, who lives beside the new school campus, said she doesn’t know how to thank The Philippine STAR enough as it was the fulfillment of their dreams. 

The Challenge

Governor Uy was beyond words when he first saw the new school building The STARbuilt for Corazon Aquino High School. 

“It is hard to top what The STAR has done. But we will also do our best to provide for the other needs of the students. This is the most beautiful school I have ever seen in the area,” he said.

Blanco also took to the stage during the turnover ceremony and profusely thanked Belmonte and The STAR’s Operation Damayan for having chosen their barangay as recipient of this year’s Adopt-a-School  project. 

“I promise to take care of the school the best way I can as barangay captain together with my barangay officials,” he said, adding that the Corazon Aquino High School will serve not only students from Barangay Osmena but as well as those from adjacent barangays Katipunan and Magsaysay of the nearby New Bataan town as well as San Jose and San Miguel, also of Compostela town. 

Barangay Kagawad Cerlito Legitimas also promised to live up to the challenge that the community would take care of the school and make sure that it would be maintained for the use of future students.

For his part, Yee vowed to work harder for the students of the school whose number has reached almost 400, a far cry from the 84 who were enrolled last year. 

With the new building, the school is now more ready to live up to the requirements of the DepEd’s K to 12 program, which will include classes in certain areas such as agro-fishery with the mini-fishpond built inside the school campus and even cosmetology and home economics.

A Legacy of Friendship

Divine intervention certainly played a part in the selection of Corazon Aquino High School as beneficiary of this year’s Adopt-a-School program of Operation Damayan. 

The group found out about the school on January 29, the day after the death anniversary of Betty Go-Belmonte, founding chairman of The STAR, who was a close friend of the late former President Corazon Aquino.

Large framed photos of the two are mounted on one of the walls of the school as a testament of their friendship and the advocacies they stood for in caring for the needy.

In the words of Etang, one of the parents, typhoon ‘Pablo’ was also a blessing in disguise for students of Corazon Aquino National High School. 

“Had it not been for Pablo, The STAR would not have found its way to us here in Sitio Baclog,” she said.