The City Council of Puerto Princesa has urged Mayor Lucilo Bayron to donate a lot to the Department of Education (DepEd) for the purpose of establishing a secondary school in Barangay San Pedro.
During the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s regular session on Monday, August 11, Vice Mayor Peter “Jimbo” Maristela has initiated a move that would pave way for the establishment of a high school, citing that elementary graduates from San Pedro need to enroll in other areas to pursue higher grade level due to the absence of secondary school in their barangay.
But Maristela said that San Pedro, one of biggest barangay of this city, with a population of 25,909 based on latest census, should have a secondary school.
“Sana makapagbigay ng lupa ang city government sa Barangay San Pedro para sa pagtatayuan ng high school, sapagkat alam nyo po halos karamihan ng malalaking barangay dito sa Puerto Princesa ay mayroon ng high school pero napakatagal na po na panahon wala pang high school ang Barangay San Pedro. Ang atin pong mga kabataan sa barangay san pedro pag nag aaral na ng high school either sa Palawan National High School o kaya sa San Miguel o sa ibat ibang barangay pa na malalayo kaya iminumungkahi ko po na sana makapagdonate ng lupa ang city government para pagtayuan ng high school,” the vice mayor said.
Vice Mayor Maristela recalled that when he was still a city councilor he initiated a request to the Department of Education (DepEd) through a Sangguniang Panlungsod resolution that he sponsored intended for the establishment of a high school in San Pedro, however, the DepEd responded that the city need to donate a parcel of land as school site.
With regards to the parcel of land which the city government can donate to DepEd, Maristela said that there are vacant land, such as that located at the back of the City PNP and at the back of the City Coliseum. He said that the area at the back of the coliseum was eyed as a site for elementary school then, but since the plan has not pushed through, portion of the area at the back of coliseum could be utilized as a site for the proposed high school.
The vice mayor is hopeful that the city could donate parcel of land that would pave way for the realization of this dream,
He said that in the construction of school buildings, the DepEd can allocate funds from their budget, while the city government can also earmark funds from its Special Education Fund (SEF) and other sources of funds, for the school building project.
