Parents rally in support of new BCS campus
BAYAMBANG—Parents in favor of the permanent transfer of their children to the new Bayamband Central School (BCS) campus held a rally November 25 to express their support to the municipal government’s move.
Leading the rally was the president of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Alex Medrano, who said the new school building is more conducive to learning despite being located in Barangay Magsaysay, further away from the center of town where the old building is located.
Earlier, a group of parents who are against the transfer also held a rally the previous week, asserting that the new school’s location costs additional transport expenses which is a financial burden for them.
A grandmother of three BCS pupils who supports a permanent transfer, countered in the local dialect, “Our children are more comfortable here (new building) as it is cleaner and more beautiful than the old one, even if it’s more distant from our house, the advantages outweigh that. I’m just for what’s best for our kids.”
Medrano maintianed that the new school campus has addressed the problems in the old school that was prone to flooding, posed health hazards and dilapidated facilities.
The PTA president also denied allegations that pupils are required to pay P200 for the new building located in the a 2.7-hectare facility.
“There’s no collection of such fee as that is illegal,” he said.
On September 30, 2013, Ricardo Camacho issued Executive Order No. 25 implementing the transfer of the pupils and staff of BCS due to the “sorry state of the school”.
However, a number of teachers and parents disregarded the EO and a petition for a restraining order was subsequently filed by the mayor.
Last October 23, the court granted the municipal government a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction for the continuance of the implementation of the EO.
Camacho said he is looking forward meeting both the anti and pro groups to resolve the issue amicably.
The mayor said that if DepEd approves the new building, the local government will donate the building while businessman Willie Chua will donate the lot.
The site of the old BCS, he added, “will be developed into a commercial area to further the economic development of the municipal government.”–Johanne R. Macob
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