Caloocan City Mayor Dale Gonzalo “Along” Malapitan led the distribution of bags and schools supplies for Caloocan City public school students from kindergarten to grade 6.
Mayor Along provided a school bag with notebooks, pencil, eraser, and ruler for students of Bagong Barrio Elementary School, Morning Breeze Elementary School, Andres Bonifacio Elementary School, Maypajo Elementary School, Caloocan Central Elementary School, Cecilio Apostol Elementary School, Kalayaan Elementary School and Bagong Silang Elementary School, and Sto. Nino Elementary School.
“Laman po ng bawat bag ay notebook, lapis, pambura at ruler para sa bawat mag-aaral simula kinder hanggang grade 6 sa mga pampublikong paaralan sa lungsod,” he said.
The local chief executive said that the distribution for other public schools are scheduled for the entire month of November as full implementation of face-to-face classes were set to begin this month, as ordered by the Department of Education.
“Itinaon po natin na simulan ang distribusyon ngayong Nobyembre dahil ayon po sa DepEd, ngayong buwan epektibo ang kabuuang implementasyon ng face-to-face classes sa bansa. Nais natin na makatulong ito sa bawat magulang na makabawas sa kanilang gastusin at magamit ng ating mga mag-aaaral sa face-to-face classes,” Mayor Along stated.
With this, he also emphasized his career-long goal to improve the quality of education in Caloocan. To recall, Mayor Along passed the ordinance granting free tuition to University of Caloocan City (UCC) students when he was still a city councilor, and provided educational assistance for them during his term as a congressman.
As the previous District 1 representative, Mayor Along helped build 1,058 classrooms and authored House Bill no. 5739, that establishes the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Caloocan City-North campus.
“Simula pa noong konsehal tayo hanggang maging kongresista at ngayon bilang alkalde, prayoridad ng ating liderato ang edukasyon. Sisikapin natin na alisin ang hadlang sa pagtatapos ng bawat Batang Caloocan,” he said.
“Libreng edukasyon simula kinder hanggang kolehiyo, libreng school supplies at tulong edukasyon — hangad natin na walang batang maiiwan at maramdaman nila na suportado po sila ng pamahalaan sa kanilang mga pangarap,” the Mayor added.