Power firm donates school buildings in DavNor town

DAVAO CITY, May 21 – A brand new 3-classroom school building is rising soon in the campus of Sto. Tomas Elementary School in Sto. Tomas town of Davao del Norte. This is courtesy of Aboitiz-owned electric utility Davao Light and Power Company in coordination with its social development arm, Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., and with support from the local municipal government.
 
The partnership was formalized last May 17, 2012 with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) that will govern the school building construction project. The signing of the document was held at the conference room of the Municipal Mayor’s Office in Sto. Tomas.

The signatories to the agreement are Davao Light Exec. Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Arturo M. Milan, Sto. Tomas Mayor Maximo M. Estela, and Department of Education (DepEd) Davao del Norte Division Officer-in-Charge Cristy C. Epe.
 
Davao Light's Community Relations (Comrel) Manager Vic N. Sumalinog said the building is a concrete-steel-and-wood combined structure with a total cost of P2.353 million. From cost, Cebu City-based Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (AFI) puts in P1.647 million while the local government of Sto. Tomas is to share P705,966.00 as counterpart. Construction has actually started ahead of the MOA signing, and is now about 80 percent complete.
 
The Sto. Tomas Elementary School project is the 14th building donated by Davao Light for the entire north sector of the company's franchise since 2000. The Aboitiz-owned electric utility is also ready to turn over a 2-room kindergarten school, also in Sto. Tomas. This is constructed at the campus of New Katipunan Elementary School. The project is a partnership between Aboitiz Foundation and the Aklat Gabay at Aruga tungo sa Pag-angat at Pag-asa or AGAPP, a foundation headed by Presidential sister Pinky Aquino Abellada, and is in support to the Department of Education’s K-to-12 program.
 
According to the company’s Comrel Department, Davao Light is building this year two units of the AGAPP kinder school buildings within its franchise area even as its sister companies are also donating three more units within the Davao region.  Meanwhile, the Aboitiz-owned electric utility will turn over on May 23, 2012 a new 3-classroom school building in Salvacion Elementary School in Panabo City, Davao del Norte. It is also a joint project with the local government of Panabo City.
 
To date, Davao Light has already constructed a total of 34 school buildings including one science laboratory and two library hubs in the whole of its franchise area with an aggregate cost of about P50 million.
 
Donating school building facilities is a major component of the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) program in support to improving the quality of the country’s public education. It is also through CSR that the company, as well as the rest of the Aboitiz Group, gives back to society what it gets from the latter in terms of patronage. (DLPC)