Dagupan nixes one-storey school building policy
CITY Mayor Belen Fernandez reiterated her call that future school buildings to be built in Dagupan will henceforth be two, three or four stories on account of Dagupan’s low topography and prone to flooding.
Ms. Fernandez directed her call to the Department of Education (DepEd) and to the private sector that regularly donate school buildings in Dagupan to public elementary and high schools.
The mayor cited a resolution passed by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) setting as a policy that any new school building to be built must at least be a two-storey building.
Effectively, no one-storey school building, even if donated, will not be allowed since the resources will go to waste because of continuous flooding in Dagupan and the rising water level in the rivers aggravated by climate change.
She cited the run-off water from the uplands are cascade to the city before exiting to the Lingayen Gulf.
The mayor said the city government under her administration is now observing this policy and as proof of this, it built from its own fund a of P10 million two-storey school building consisting of eight classrooms for the Carael Elementary School.
The new school building was turned over by the mayor to City Schools Superintendent Froserfina Bravo and Officer-in-Charge Principal Alma Fernandez during its inauguration last week.
The mayor noted that every time Dagupan gets flooded, school records, supplies and equipment of one-storey buildings are always transferred to higher grounds.
At the same time, the multi-level school buildings can double up as evacuation centers for residents during a calamity.
But the mayor concedes that the one-storey school buildings in Dagupan can not be demolished until these are replaced with multi-level structures.
The city government will soon construct a three-storey, nine-room school building for the Dagupan City National High School (DCNHS) for upcoming senior high school students. The Security Bank Foundation is constructing another two-storey building, comprising of eight classrooms, at DCNHS under its corporate social responsibility.
City Engineer Virginia Rosario said the 42 classrooms promised to be built by DepEd are two-storey, three-storey and four-storey school buildings. (Leonardo Micua)
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