By: Vic Larato
ZAMBOANGA CITY, June 6 (PIA)- - City dad Mayor Celso Lobregat on Tuesday challenged the
teachers and students of Don Pablo Lorenzo Memorial High School (DPLMHS) to
improve the academic performance in this year’s National Achievement Test (NAT)
as the city government continues to support the school through infrastructure
projects.
Lobregat made the challenge during the
inauguration of the newly constructed two-storey 10-classroom building, the
fourth of its kind to be donated by the city government under his administration.
The project was undertaken by GHR Construction firm in the amount of
P10,733,066.91.
The school now has a total of 13 classroom buildings,
of which 9 and a gymnasium were constructed during the time of Ma’am Caling and
four under her son’s administration. The chief executive emphasized that not
one building was ever constructed by DepEd at DPLMHS.
This, as another two-storey 10-classroom
building (the 5th under Lobregat’s administration) worth P10.7
million is under construction next to the one that was unveiled yesterday.
And, if that is not enough, Lobregat also
vowed to construct the school’s track oval at the back of the gym, to a
thunderous applause by the DPLMHS students and teachers headed by the
principal, Dr. Maria Pilar Gregorio.
“We are giving you all these infrastructure
projects to give you an environment that is conducive to learning for students
and teaching for teachers,” Lobregat told the DPLMHS students and teachers,
even as he challenged them to improve their NAT performance.
The mayor likewise urged them to take good
care of the buildings by repairing whatever defects there may be in the future.
For instance, he lauded the principal for replacing the gym’s broken tiles with
new ones.
Lobregat posed one more challenge to the school
through the principal and that was to have holes on the gym’s roofs plastered
or covered to prevent the rain from getting through.
Also present during the inauguration were
Vice Mayor Cesar Iturralde, Councilors Rudy Lim, Nonong Guingona, Myra Paz
Valderrosa-Abubakar, Percival Ramos, VP Elago and Gerky Valesco together with
City Engineer Luis Vicente Despalo, City Schools Division Superintendent
Melchor Pedro Natividad and the contractor with Rev. Fr. Michael Ufana blessing
the school building. (JPA/VL /CIO/PIA9-ZBST)