Angeles City Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr., together with Chief-of-Staff Atty. Kercee Lazatin on November 24, 2020 receive P50 million in financial assistance from the Philippine Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to be used for building additional classrooms at the City College of Angeles. Photo by Jomes Sugui.
ANGELES CITY – One additional building with 10 classrooms and two computer labs will be constructed at the City College of Angeles (CCA) as Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr. received a P50-million cheque from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation on November 24, 2020.
Despite the transition to modular and online learning due to the pandemic, Mayor Lazatin wants to ensure that the city is prepared for the return of face-to-face classes.
“Isa sa mga tinututukang programa ng aking administrasyon ay ang patuloy na pagsusulong ng Edukasyon. Sinisikap natin na bagamat may pandemya, tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang implementasyon ng mga programang pang-edukasyon, kabilang na rito ang pagpapaayos at pagpapagawa ng mga classrooms,” Lazatin said.
According to Dr. Carolina A. Sarmiento, CCA Vice President for Administration and Quality Assurance, the P50-million donation will be used to construct one building with two computer labs, and 10 additional classrooms.
“This in reference to the Angeles City Executive Legislative Agenda for 2020 to 2022,” Sarmiento said.
Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, the enrollment rate at the CCA increased from 2,481 students last Academic Year to 3,341 students this year.
Citing Mayor Lazatin’s vision of “no Angeleño children left behind” when it comes to education, Chief Adviser and Tactician Director IC Calaguas said the city government wanted to help CCA accommodate the city scholars properly, should face-to-face classes resume next year.
“Kahit maraming kinakaharap na pagsubok ang siyudad ngayon, nakahanda ang city government sa pagtulong sa mga estudyante, lalo na sa ating mga city scholars. Gusto nating magkaroon ng maayos na kapasidad ang CCA, sa tulong ng pondo na binigay ng PAGCOR sa city government,” Calaguas said.
Amid the pandemic, Mayor Lazatin shared that the city government through the CCA fund, has purchased tablets for the 3,200 scholars of CCA, for use in their online classes.
These tablets will be returned to the CCA library at the end of the Academic School Year 2020-2021, to be used by incoming students for the following year.
The said donation of PAGCOR is part of their various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects, including the School Building Program, Christmas gift-giving for indigent beneficiaries, relief operations for calamity victims, and donation of computers and television sets to public schools.
Last 2019, PAGCOR was the biggest dividend contributor among government-owned and –controlled corporations, remitting P16.17 billion to the government.
