Lopez Group expands school rebuilding program

MANILA, Philippines - First Gen Corp. and other Lopez Group companies within First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH) are constructing 28 additional typhoon-resilient school buildings in eight more disaster-hit areas as part of Phase 3 of their ongoing school rebuilding program.

In expanding Phase 3, the Lopez Group companies have committed to construct schools in areas affected not only by Super Typhoon Yolanda but also by other recent disasters. These schools are in Leyte, Eastern Samar, Sorsogon, Albay, Bohol, Bukidnon, Laguna and Panay Island.

“After completing Phases 1 and 2 of the school rebuilding program, we realized that classrooms remain a great need in so many towns not just in Leyte but in other areas in the country. To this day, children continue to attend classes in partially repaired rooms and even in tents and other makeshift areas.  This situation has prompted us not only to continue but to expand efforts to help the affected area,” FPH vice president Ramon A. Carandang  said.

Launched in June 2015, Phase 3 of the school rebuilding program –  like the earlier Phase 1 and Phase 2 – originally focused on rebuilding schools in areas devastated by Yolanda, which struck the country in late 2013.

Those in the expanded list are Rizal Integrated National School in Sorsogon, Sorsogon;  Nagotgot Elementary School in Manito, Albay; Impasug-ong Central Elementary School in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon; Imbatug Central Elementary School in Baungon, Bukidnon; Mandong Integrated School in Batan, Aklan; San Roque Elementary School in Mabini, Bohol; Hacienda Concita National High School  in San Dionisio, Iloilo; Anabo National High School in Lemery, Iloilo; Dina-ut Elementary School in  Altavas, Aklan; and OML Dayap Elementary School in Calauan, Laguna.

Under the expanded school rebuilding program, the target number of classrooms increased from 48 to at least 56, while the number of school sites went up from 18 to 28.

In the first two phases of the Lopez Group’s school rebuilding program, funds pooled from various donors by ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc. – Sagip Kapamilya were tapped to construct  new school buildings or to repair  damaged  schools in Yolanda-hit areas. 

For Phase 3, the Lopez Group companies, led by First Gen, have pledged to shoulder the cost of constructing the new schools.

FPH companies that pledged support for Phase 3, along with the corresponding number of school buildings they are constructing are First Gen (16 school buildings), Rockwell Land Corp. (six school buildings), First Balfour (four) and First Philec, along with ThermaPrime Well Services Inc. (one each).

First Gen subsidiary Energy Development Corp. (EDC), the world’s largest vertically integrated geothermal company, supports the program by offering to work for free as project manager for the whole school rebuilding program.

At the same time, Kananga EDC Institute of Technology (KEITech), EDC’s technical-vocational school, responded by redesigning its courses to include short, three-month training modules.

KEITech offers the training modules to Yolanda victims as an immediate livelihood support for them and as a way of addressing manpower needs of the school rebuilding program.