School beside PNP firing range opens

MANILA, Philippines — San Juan City’s West Crame Elementary School, which has been idle for more than three years, was opened to the public yesterday.

San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora and his father, Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, graced the opening ceremony of the school situated beside the national police headquarters in Camp Crame.

The younger Zamora told reporters he fought to have the school open and “after three years and eight months, this dream has been accomplished.”

The four-story school building worth P48.3 million has 20 classrooms, which can accommodate around 600 students. The structure also has a basketball court on the roofdeck.

It was inaugurated on Dec. 8, 2015 but was never allowed to open by the previous administration due to safety concerns that bullets from the firing range of the Philippine National Police (PNP) would hit school children.

This was vehemently denied by Zamora, adding that not a single resident of Barangay West Crame was injured by stray bullets supposedly coming from the police camp.

He said if these reports were true, “the whole street would have been evacuated. Why are they focusing on the school?”

The school, a priority project of the elder Zamora, was a “victim of politics,” the mayor said.

The Zamoras received assurance from PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde that the school is safe for use.

The younger Zamora said there is a retaining wall that was constructed in 2017 to prevent bullets from coming out of the police camp.

He said Albayalde has temporarily stopped operations at the firing range while additional safety precautions are being put up.