A school built on kindness

STO. TOMAS, Pangasinan , Philippines  – The San Antonio National High School in this town started with nothing when it was approved by the Department of Education to be operational in 2004.

Its original batch of 54 students held classes under the mango trees – during sunny as well as rainy weather – in a farm area in Barangay San Antonio, surrounded by goats, cows and carabaos.

Then, the students moved to the barangay’s covered court. The space was divided into classrooms by used plywood that the teachers solicited from owners of some residents whose houses were under construction.

Every Friday after classes, the teachers would tie the chairs of the pupils so that thieves would not take them away.

Students and teachers endured this pathetic situation for three years.

Then the graces started coming, in the form of classrooms donated by friends of Mayor Vivien Villar, like then fifth district Rep. Mark Cojuangco, who gave the first three classrooms. Then Gov. Victor Agbayani gave one classroom, and Buhay Party-list gave three.

The mayor’s husband Antonio Villar donated a small building for the school canteen. Then Undersecretary Mario Bravo of the Department of Budget and Management gave one classroom building. And the DepEd gave its share of a two-storey, four- classroom building.

Another building with two classrooms was donated by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FFCCII) and the Pangasinan Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce through the help of Pangasinan fifth district Board Member Danny Uy under their group’s Operation Barrio Schools. This building was constructed by the La Filipina Uygongco Corp., Philippine Foremost Milling Corp.

This school now proudly has 14 concrete, bright classrooms that has 244 students, up from the original 54.

School principal Emeterio Soniega said they are proud to report that four of the first batch of graduates from the school are now registered nurses.

Meanwhile, the FFCCCII’s Operation Barrio Schools has donated nationwide about 4,500 classrooms and about 400 of these are found in Pangasinan, according to president Alfonso Uy.

Aside from this town, they also turned over school buildings in Urdaneta City, Mangaldan, Binmaley and Dagupan City.

“We do not only do business. We also help the needy, especially during calamities,” Uy added.