SIAYAN, Zamboanga del Norte -- Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo turned over Friday a PHP1.2-million dormitory in this town’s national high school to house the 30 female students, who used to endure hours of walking and trekking mountains daily just to be able to go to school.
The dormitory for girls, called the “Balay Pasilungan ni VP Lenie”, was built by the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation (YBHF) through the Vice President’s flagship anti-poverty program, “Angat Buhay”.
During the turnover ceremony, Robredo listened to the stories of the beneficiary-students, who are from poor families and far-flung communities, and the hardship they have to endure daily in coming from and to the school.
“We have heard their stories. Most of them wake up at 3 a.m. They walk far and arrived here at the school around 7 a.m. Then the same thing in the afternoon in going home,” the Vice President said.
Krisamae Cagoco, 16, one of the beneficiary-students, said she will no longer have to cross streams and climb mountains for four hours each day just to go to school and to get home.
Cagoco said she and her schoolmates can now focus more on their studies with a halfway home inside the school campus.
“Ngayon na mayroon nang dorm, malaki ang pagbabago sa aming pag-aaral dahil noong hindi pa ako nagdo-dorm, maglalakad kami. Hinang hina na kami. Hindi na kami makapag-aral ng assignment. Ngayon, may oras nang mag-aral kami (Now that we have a dorm, there will be big changes in our studies unlike before when there was still no dorm, we have to walk daily. We are tired. We can no longer study and do our assignment. Now, we will have time to study),” she said.
Robredo thanked the other stakeholders like the local government, as well as the Siayan National High School (SNHS) for tirelessly working together in helping alleviate the plight of the students.
The YBHF also provided a desktop computer worth PHP20,000 and an oven stove worth PPH12,000 for the female dormitory.
Aside from the YBHF, Bosch Philippines has donated carpentry and power tools worth PHP175,000 for Grades 11 and 12 students of SNHS while Ramesh Trading Corporation gave kitchen utensils and equipment worth PHP75,500.
BeAGiver Ventures Inc. also donated bags filled with school supplies worth PHP40,500 and committed to provide scholarships for all the 54 students housed in both male and female dormitories in SNHS.
Dr. Anton Mari Lim, YBHF president, said the female dormitory is the second dormitory the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and YBHF have built for the school.
The first was the male dormitory in February 2018 that houses 30 male students.
The turnover of the PHP1.2-million dormitory at the SNSH was witnessed by the local government officials, including Mayor Josecor Gepolongca and Vice Mayor Primitivo Castillo.
Since the Angat Buhay program was launched in 2016, the OVP has initiated the construction of several dormitories in public schools in far-flung areas, such as in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay; Sumilao, Bukidnon; and, Salcedo and Balangkayan in Eastern Samar. (PNA)
