(Happy pupils with their teachers hold symbolic key to new school building.)
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – A two-storey building was formally turned over by SM Foundation to the Telabastagan Integrated School (TIS) here in a simple ceremony on Friday.
SM Foundation is the charitable arm of SM Prime Holdings which gave the donation in line with their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and in partnership with the Bata Children’s program.
The TIS is located about a hundred meters across SM City Telabastagan.
SM executives, as well representatives from the Department of Education (DepEd), the TIS faculty and local government officials were present during the event.
Juris Umali-Soliman, head of SM Foundation’s school building program, said the donation is a testament to SM’s commitment to improve children’s access to quality education.
“One of the priorities of SM Foundation is to actually uplift the education of young learners in the communities where our SM malls serve. We want to help improve every child’s academic performance and productivity in school; and one of our ways include funding the construction of conducive school buildings in public elementary and high schools nationwide,” she said.
Soliman also said the new edifice is the 91st school building donated by the foundation across the country and the sixth in Pampanga.
Carmen Linda Atayde, SM Foundation senior assistant vice president who also serves as the foundation’s executive director in education, pointed out that the school building is fully furnished and can be readily occupied by 200 students.
“Aside from the building itself, we have also provided armchairs, tables, wall fans, blackboards, wall clocks and even toilets as part of our donation,” she said. “The building is also PWD-friendly, with 20 left-handed armchairs and even PWD ramps,” she added.
“We always have in mind our differently-abled youths and we want to make sure that they are provided with the same kind of support like everyone else,” she stressed.
“In addition, to ensure our students’ safety at all times, the building is also equipped with emergency-ready facilities like staircases on both sides of the building, fire alarm bells and emergency lights,” she said. “This is to ensure our students’ safety at all times,” she added.
For his part, Rabi Hasnabi, Bata Philippines country manager, said their company is ready to share its resources to help advance education in the country.
Bata is a popular European shoe brand founded in 1894 in Zlin, Moravia in the Czech Republic. At present, it has branches in over 70 countries and operates more than 5,000 international retail stores.
Not known to many, SM and Bata formed a family-like partnership through the years since the company branched out in the Philippines three decades ago.
“This is our first school building project in collaboration with SM Foundation and we look forward to many more meaningful endeavors together,” Hasnabi said.
“Our Bata Children’s Program, launched in 2011, is active in many countries across Southeast Asia and as far as Africa and Latin America. In the Philippines, we aspire to go the extra mile to give children every opportunity they deserve and to make sure they can have a brighter future,” he stated.
TIS principal Nancy Gamboa expressed her gratitude for the timely donation.
“We would like to thank SM Foundation and Bata Children’s Program for their efforts to reach out to our students and the school. We are privileged to have been chosen as the beneficiary for their donation which is a really big help for our 942 students enrolled this year,” she added.
Mayor Edwin ‘Edsa” D. Santiago, who is also present during the turnover, lauded SM for its donation.
“This is definitely a valuable contribution to our Fernandinos. We are very happy that our investor, SM— is one with our vision of prioritizing education, which I believe is a foundation of a successful community. We thank SM for not only providing decent employment and economic growth to the city, but also extending its social services for all,” he declared.
