Lucena school to rise from ashes, alumni vow

FIRE PROBE The resumption of classes at Sacred Heart College in Lucena City has been postponed indefinitely as the Bureau of Fire Protection investigates the Jan. 1 fire that destroyed the school’s main building. —TSIBOY MALLARI

LUCENA CITY—Graduates, teachers and personnel of Sacred Heart College (SHC) here have started pooling their resources to help rebuild their school that was ravaged by fire on New Year’s Day.

“To all our graduates and friends, thank you for your prayers and support for Sacred Heart College. Let’s mobilize and pool our resources … and build a new SHC,” Amie Vargas, a faculty member, said in a message posted on her Facebook account on Wednesday.

The SHC-Lucena Alumni Association (SHC-LAA), through social media, has initiated a fundraising drive for the school, one of the top Catholic educational institutions in Quezon province, which was established in this city in 1884 as a school for poor children.

Nuns safe

“We all cried when we saw SHC on fire. The chapel, Hermana Fausta hall, archives, IT (information technology) center, sister’s quarters, IMC (Instructional Media Center), LRC (Learning Resource Center) and the grade school classrooms were totally burned,” Josefina Parentela, SHC-LAA president, said.

“We are thankful though that all the 10 sisters are safe and no one was hurt,” she added, referring to the Catholic nuns staying in the school.

Parentela’s message had been shared at least 1,000 times by SHC alumni, called “Cordians,” in the country and abroad. Donations may be coursed through Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Lucena City branch (account number 0-073-01558-9).

Donations

In a telephone interview, Parentela said all belongings of the nuns from Daughters of Charity, the group managing SHC, were destroyed.

“They were not able to save anything because their foremost concern was their safety. Two of the sisters, both sick, were immediately transferred to Manila,” she said.

School officials have postponed the resumption of classes this week following the fire.

SHC alumni, through their  Facebook groups, have also started fundraising campaigns from among their batchmates.

Elda Aranilla, SHC teacher, said alumni had been arriving in groups to check the extent of damage in the school. Some handed cash donations.

The New Year Mass at the school chapel had just ended when the fire started.

SFO3 Winsor Oñate, investigator of the Bureau of Fire Protection in the city, said the blaze could have started in SHC’s old elementary school building.