ITOGON, Benguet – The municipal government is targeting to put up gymnasiums in all the forty eight public elementary and high schools in the different parts of the municipality that will also serve as multipurpose centers for public use.
Mayor Bernard S. Waclin said that the targeted completion of the put up of gymnasiums in all public schools in the municipality is by next year considering the town’s limited resources such as the 20 percent local development fund which is equitably being divided among priority development projects that will be implemented in the municipality.
He claimed that there will be additional four gymnasium projects that will be implemented by the local government this year while the remaining two projects will be funded and implemented next year to complete the put up of gymnasiums in the said schools that will also serve as multipurpose centers for public use.
However, Mayor Waclin admitted that there are some schools that requested that the structure that will be put up within their premises are schoolbuildings which he immediately approved considering that it is the urgent need of the schools that is why the funds that were programmed for gymnasiums were used to construct more schoolbuildings in the school premises which are now being used to cater to the basic education needs of the youth from the different barangays.
According to him, the local government defers to what will be the need of the schools that will benefit from the implementation of the gymnasium project so that the needs of the schools will be immediately addressed while dealing with the problems of the communities hosting the said schools.
The local chief executive pointed out that the school gymnasiums will also serve as evacuation centers for residents in the communities who will be affected by natural and man-made calamities to help in saving life and limb from being exposed to imminent danger by the said incidents that may happen anytime.
He emphasized that the completion of gymnasiums in all public elementary and secondary schools is one of the major thrusts of the present administration in the municipality to provide learners with an avenue to showcase their skills and talents aside from providing venues for the conduct of community-related activities that will entice people to actively participate and contribute in the overall growth and progress of the locality.
Waclin stipulated that the put up of schoolbuildings and gymnasiums in remote villages in the municipality are far more expensive than the construction of similar structures in schools that could be reached by roads but the local government has to provide such basic needs of the schools, thus, the continuous implementation of the said projects by providing additional funds for structures that really need more fund allocations for the realization of the desired intention.
Itogon is one of the five first class municipalities in the province and among the three towns that heavily rely on mining as its major source of income to guarantee the sustainable implementation of high impact development projects and enhance the delivery of basic services to the people. By Dexter A. See
