Teachers and students of a public school in Barangay Kipalbig, Tampakan, South Cotabato, welcomed visiting officials from private firms that partnered in the construction of a new two-classroom building on the campus. (Photo by John Unson)
KORONADAL CITY, Philippines โ Teachers and pupils at an elementary school in Tampakan, South Cotabato expressed gratitude to a Metro Manila-based foundation that funded the construction of a two-classroom building in their campus.
Sheila Mae Garcia Ordoรฑa, head teacher of the Claudio Delos Reyes Elementary School (CDRES) in Barangay Kipalbig, said the classrooms were built by the Melco Resorts (Philippines) Foundation Corporation, also known as the Melco Foundation.
Melco Foundation vice president Armin Antonio Raquel Santos visited the school on Wednesday, March 4, to see the completed facility.
Santos was accompanied by employees of Sagittarius Mines Incorporated, which also has various humanitarian projects in Tampakan.
Ordoรฑa said the new classrooms will benefit pupils from indigenous Blaan communities as well as children from non-indigenous settler families enrolled in the school.
She said the school previously relied on makeshift learning spaces due to a shortage of classrooms.
โOur school started with only makeshift classrooms. Some pupils wore worn-out slippers and had no school bags then. Their belongings were placed inside plastic cellophane bags to protect them from the rain,โ Ordoรฑa said.
Teachers and parents welcomed the new building, saying it would provide a more conducive learning environment for students.
South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. said the project complements the provincial governmentโs efforts to improve education infrastructure in indigenous communities.
โWe appreciate the efforts of the Melco Foundation toward that goal and the support of its bridge to our province, the Sagittarius Mines Incorporated,โ Tamayo said.
Tamayo said the Melco Foundation, through the efforts of SMI and Belle Corporation, donated P100 million to the South Cotabato provincial government last year to fund the construction of 80 classrooms in public schools.
These classrooms were built in geographically isolated communities in the towns of Tโboli, Lake Sebu, Surallah, Polomolok, Tampakan, and Tupi, as well as in remote areas in Koronadal City.
The initiative forms part of the Melco Foundationโs corporate social responsibility programs aimed at supporting education and social development in underserved communities.
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