Church seeks help to rebuild burnt school building

The Catholic Church has appealed to the faithful to help rebuild the main building of the Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Pulupandan town in Negros Occidental after it was destroyed by a fire on Thursday night.

Bishop Vicente Navarra, who visited the fire scene on Friday, said he would issue a circular letter seeking help to reconstruct the two-story wooden building with eight classrooms used by 430 high school students.

Built in 1963, the structure also housed the principal’s office and the faculty room, said Fr. Tomas Rito, parish priest of Pulupandan, 31 kilometers south of this capital city.

Two other classrooms in a separate building were destroyed. Only the school’s computer room and library were spared, Rito said.

He put the damage to school property at P4 million.

The fire was believed to have started from the shack of Mamerto Ybañez, the school caretaker, who reportedly went out to drink at that time.

Rito also appealed to alumni to help rebuild the school.

Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña offered the use of the newly built municipal auditorium and some empty offices as temporary classrooms.

Rito welcomed the proposal, adding that the academy might use three classrooms in the nearby East Elementary School.

“We are pounding out our steel chairs hit by the fire back into shape for repainting so they can be used again. In the meantime, we will have to borrow chairs so classes can resume,” he said.

Fr. Hubert Javellana of the Pax Catholic College in La Carlota City also offered to lend some chairs, he added.