Mayor Abigail Binay led the turnover of food packs and school supplies donated by the Makati City government to the Department of Education for the benefit of thousands of school children affected by the armed conflict in Marawi City last year.
In a simple ceremony held at City Hall on Thursday, the mayor signed the Deed of Donation together with Education Secretary Leonor Briones who represented DepEd and the City of Marawi.
Aside from the 2,500 food packs, the city government also donated 5,000 pairs of school shoes; 10,875 school uniforms; 1,946 P.E. jogging pants; 5,594 P.E. T-shirts; 358 boy’s polo; 331 girl’s blouse; 202 boy shorts; 50 skirts; and 1,009 pants for distribution to elementary and secondary school children of the war-torn city in Mindanao.
“Through this donation, we aim to somehow alleviate the plight of school children in Marawi and, at the same time, recognize their perseverance in pursuing their education despite their traumatic experience,” Binay said.
The donation was made under the Adopt-a-School Program of the Department of Education-Makati, which was authorized by the Makati City Council through Resolution No. 2018-004 upon the recommendation of the Makati City School Board chaired by Mayor Binay.
Meanwhile, Barangay San Lorenzo chief Ernesto Moya also attended the ceremony and signed a memorandum of agreement and deed of donation with Briones for the barangay’s sponsorship of “Build a Classroom for the Children of Marawi” Project in the amount of P4.66 million.
The said project is intended to help build new classrooms for thousands of displaced children in Marawi, where schools were heavily damaged during the five-month siege.
In June last year, Binay directed the administration of the city-run University of Makati to accept transferees and grant full scholarship to displaced students of Marawi and to children of slain soldiers.
In July lat last year, 19 students from Marawi City have transferred and were granted full scholarships at the University of Makati. Joel E. Zurbano
Binay ordered that the transferees be enrolled on full scholarship to help them get back to their studies and recover fast from their traumatic experience.
In 2014, UMak accepted emergency transferees from Yolanda-affected areas, including those from Leyte and Samar, and granted them full scholarship. One has graduated last April, while three others are currently enrolled at the university.