DepEd says P900M needed to build, repair schools after storm

EVACUEES find temporary shelter at Rizal Central School in Tacloban City after losing their homes to Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

CEBU CITY—Education officials said Central Visayas would need  more than P900 million to repair or build new schools that suffered damage or were destroyed by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in northern Cebu province and the 7.2-magnitude quake in Bohol province.

Victor Yntig, Department of Education (DepEd) field supervisor in Central Visayas, said department officials estimated they would need at least P741 million to repair 356 schools in northern Cebu that suffered damage because of Yolanda.

Yntig said at a press briefing on Thursday that in northern Cebu towns, 359 classrooms have to be replaced and 1,809 classrooms need repairs estimated to cost P699 million.

The DepEd, he said, would need P42 million for the replacement of 94 classrooms and the repair of 165 classrooms in Bogo City.

According to Yntig,  the DepEd programmed 16 of these schools for repair and rehabilitation. Classes in the schools are being held in tents, he said.

Nenita Loreto, principal of  Medellin National High School, said 14 of the school’s classrooms were destroyed by Yolanda.

Loreto said the DepEd had allowed school officials to use funds for maintenance and operations to repair the classrooms instead.

Class attendance is high, however, despite the damage that the classrooms suffered,  Loreto said.

Yntig said the DepEd was collaborating with the Department of Public Works and Highways  for a modified design of school buildings.

“It will be more resilient to calamities,” Yntig added.

Yntig said the cost of repairs of public schools in Bohol damaged by the Oct. 15 earthquake was placed at P198 million. Of the 1,091 public schools in the province, 672 have suffered damage.

He said the rehabilitation projects had been scheduled for bidding.

Prior to doing repairs and rehabilitation, Yntig said the DepEd coordinated with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources  to make sure new schools that would be built are not located in danger zones.

The MGB had reported that some schools in Bohol  were sitting over sinkholes.

Help has also been given to students in Yolanda-hit areas in the Visayas under the Basa Pilipinas project of the United States Agency for International Development.

Basa Pilipinas chief of party Marcial Salvatiera told reporters that his group had given P10 million worth of school supplies to students in the Visayas.

Basa Pilipinas, said Salvatiera, also distributed to teachers kits  that contained  markers, Manila paper and other supplies needed for teaching.