The Department of Public Works and Highways has received additional funding from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) for the construction of new classrooms under the “Matuwid na Daan sa Silid-Aralan” project.
Infused with the funds to improve access to seaports, airports, tourism destinations, and agricultural areas through roads and bridges, DPWH will also work for the completion by 2016 of about 1,500 new classrooms utilizing P2 Billion amount from state-run PAGCOR in addition to the annual regular schoolbuilding construction program allocation by the Department of Education.
Through a Memorandum of Agreement signed today (October 27, 2014) by PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat Jr., DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, and DPWH Secretary Rogelio L. Singson, DPWH will be in-charge in building classrooms including preparation of documentary requirements for construction in different sites all over the country.
Monitoring of the progress of classroom construction and provision of furniture, teachers and support staff for the operation of the completed new school building including maintenance and repair of the structure will be the responsibilities of PAGCOR and DepEd, respectively.
Included in the additional batch of schoolbuildings to be constructed under the “Matuwid na Daan sa Silid-Aralan” partnership project of PAGCOR, DepEd and DPWH are 91 classrooms for the province of Bohol in Central Visayas Region devastated by the October 2013 earthquake.
“As I go around the countryside especially in areas hit by recent calamities, classroom is the basic social infrastructure we should continue to provide”, said DPWH Secretary Rogelio L. Singson.
Singson viewed early identification of project sites crucial to the prompt implementation of the schoolbuilding project noting that actual validation of DPWH field implementing units has to be completed before the conduct of actual construction activities.
Launched in 2011, the partnership of PAGCOR, DepEd and DPWH has so far completed the construction of 906 classrooms in the areas of Baguio, Benguet, Ilocos, Pangasinan, ISabela, Cagayan, Nuevba Viscaya, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, Rizal, Oriental Mindoro, Romblon, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Samar, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Bukidnon, Davao City, Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte and Sultan Kudarat.