Sarangani village gets new P3.3-M school building

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Tribal schoolchildren in a remote community in Malungon town, Sarangani province no longer need to walk for at least two hours when they return to school this June, with the construction of three new classrooms in their village.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 12 (Soccsksargen) formally turned over on Tuesday the newly-
completed PHP3.3 million three-classroom building at the Lamlangil Elementary School in Barangay Tamban, Malungon.

Jackiya Lao, DSWD-12 assistant director for administration, said the project was among the school-based projects implemented by
the agency for the area, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Lao said the new classrooms will mainly benefit at least 60 schoolchildren belonging to the Blaan and Tagakaolo tribes in Sitio Lamlangil and the neighboring areas.

Sitio Lamlangil, which is among the far-flung communities of Barangay Tamban, is located about 24 kilometers from the town proper of Malungon.

Lao said the classroom project was earlier identified by community stakeholders as one of their most pressing needs.

The lack of classrooms in the area had forced some schoolchildren to enroll in other schools and endure at least two hours of hike, she said.

She said the project was eventually endorsed by DSWD-12 for funding under the Bottom-up Budgeting or BUB program and with the UNDP as its partner service provider.

“This is a concrete way of showing that our government is taking care of the welfare of our children -- our next generation leaders,” Lao said in a statement.

The implementation of the project was supervised and monitored by DSWD-12, through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan - Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services or Kalahi-CIDSS program.

Under the program, Malungon received last year about PHP10-million worth of classroom buildings and day care center projects.

As of end April, DSWD-12 already completed some PHP13.18-million worth of projects in parts of Soccsksargen that were funded through the BUB program since last year.

At least 14 community projects worth an estimated PHP23 million are being implemented in the area and are due for completion this year. (PNA)