CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Mayor Oscar Moreno on Monday announced the completion of eight three-story classrooms in Barangay Bonbon, adding that his government has built 458 classrooms since 2013, when the local school board was convened.
In 2013, the city government planned to construct 300 classrooms in the next three years, but it exceeded this target. “Now we are planning to construct 600 classrooms more in the next three years,” Moreno said.
He said that it was important to invest in education because it is the foundation of stable economies.
Moreno wants the city to be the education center of the Northern Mindanao. “We must make sure that Cagayan de Oro is not only the commercial hub of the region, we must also become the education center, we must develop our education sector,” he said.
The city government has done away with the entire city’s annex high schools which shares rooms with elementary schools.
“The annex high schools were in a sorry state, they don’t get budget allocations from the national high school. Meanwhile, the city’s population is growing, there is a backlog of school buildings, we need to invest in our education system,” the mayor explained.
The city infrastructure development is funded by the mandatory one-percent income from the real property tax.
“The board as an independent body of government, private and public school officials, academe and civil society identified, prioritized and approved for the construction of the public schools in the city,” Moreno said.
City Engineer Elmer Pacuribot said that the new buildings comply with standards on school buildings.
“The passageways are wide, each classrooms have high ceilings and their own restrooms, light are abundant and the roof deck will serve as evacuation centers in time of disasters without interrupting classes,” Pacuribot said.