CALASIAO, PANGASINAN – After tropical storm “Cosme” destroyed the six-classroom building of Bued East Community School in this town on May 17, teachers and residents were faced with the problem of where to hold classes when school opens on June 10.

Many school buildings in Pangasinan were destroyed by the storm and the prospect of the Department of Education prioritizing the rebuilding of the village school in time for the opening of classes was not so good.

But instead of sulking and waiting, the Bued community looked into its “inner strength” – the residents, the business community and nongovernment organizations – so students can start classes as scheduled on June 10.

Bued village chief, Carlito Dion, a graduate of the 48-year-old school, met with school principal, Edna Cornista, the teachers and some alumni and agreed that they would contribute money so they could build at least a single classroom.

Dion committed P5,000 and as the hat was passed on, the funds grew.

Letters telling other graduates of the tragedy that hit the school were sent by electronic mail to help solicit funds.

“We got a good response to the project. The school is the ‘face’ of Bued East and residents want to have a part in rebuilding it,” Dion said.

While the teachers, some of whom are graduates of the school, were meeting at the school grounds, owners of a branch of Toyota Motor Corp. in the town arrived.

Juanito Ong Jr. and Rene So donated materials to the Calasiao town government to help the reconstruction of damaged schools in the town but Mayor Roy Macanlalay asked them to inspect these schools and help repair them.

After seeing how devastated the Bued East school building was and seeing how desperate the alumni and teachers looked, Ong and So said that instead of repairing the school building, they would donate two new classrooms instead.

The Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries also committed to build two classrooms here this year.

The provincial government is building two classrooms while Pangasinan Rep. Rachel Arenas has committed two more, according to Dion.

On Monday, the construction of makeshift classrooms inside the covered courtyard in the school started, courtesy of the Sr. Divino Tesoro Foundation which donated P100,000 to buy construction materials.

Macanlalay, chair of the foundation’s board, said the local government would provide workers to prepare the makeshift classrooms in four days.

Toyota lent canvasses to be put around the courtyard to shield the children from the sun and rains.

“We are thankful to God that with the help of everyone – the private sector, the government and residents – we will be able to overcome this big challenge of rebuilding our school,” Dion said.

The new classrooms will be built at the back of the old building’s ruins, which will soon be demolished.

The elementary school building in the nearby Cabilocaan village was also destroyed by the storm.

While the local government and the Sr. Divino Tesoro Foundation are building makeshift schoolrooms there, school and village officials are still waiting for help, said village chief Cesar Legaspi.

In San Carlos City, Mayor Julier Resuello said the repair of classrooms in Barangay Mabalbalino has started “through bayanihan (free labor) among the residents.”