Camacho to respect DepEd on fate of Central School

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BAYAMBANG – The mayor of this robust town said he would respect the final decision of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Manila on the fate of the gutted by fire Bayambang Central Elementary School.

Mayor Ricardo Camacho said he would bow to the DepEd in Manila incase it decides that more than 500 students in Grades 1 and 2 who are dislocated by fire that razed eight Gabaldon type classrooms should remain at the gutted building.

The school was razed by fire at the wee hour of June last year that saw students attend class every school day into two shifts.

“Kasi ang ginagawa ko talaga  lang iyong concern ko ngayon ang health ng mga bata wala ng iba kung hindi ang kapakanan ng mga bata. Sana maintindihan ako ng mga tao,” he stressed after he filed a mandatory temporary restraining order to the court for School Division Superintended Ruby Torio of Pangasinan 1 of the Department of Education and personnel to heed for the transfer of students in a new school building with a gymnasium built by a certain William Chua.

Chua was reported to eye the central school as a venue of a shopping mall.

Camacho said the 20 days mandatory TRO that took effect last October 7 was prompted by the sad plight of the students at the 100 year-old Central School who bear the flood whenever there is a downpour.

In the TRO, RTC -56 presiding judge Hermogenes Fernandez ordered Torio and Bayambang Central School principal Danilo Lopez not to stall the transfer as it would work injustice and prejudice to the students.

 “Nakita natin may basis tayo health nagka-problema sa bata dengue case during heavy rains suspended na ang klase ng two days hindi conducive for learning. At isang reason diyan dahil nasunog ang Gabaldon Building nagkaroon ng shortage sa classrooms. Kulang talaga at marumi,” he explained.

Trouble ensued after the lapsed of the TRO as some teachers, parents, and pupils, morally supported by some media outlets in Dagupan City, went back to the old school building.
But in October 31, Judge Fernandez issued a writ of preliminary injunction ordering all concern to remain at the new school buildings.

Camacho said incase the Department of Education in Manila favors his administration to transfer the students at the new school buildings he would donate all the facilities there.

“Ibibigay namin iyan infavor sa DepEd including iyong ownership ng lupa and lahat ng facilities na natapos. Tu-turn-over namin iyan so maganda ang intention namin.”

Camacho lauded the intention of the private investor when asked that the gutted Central School will be converted into a shopping edifice.

“Hindi natin matatawaran iyan kasi being the chief executive tinitingnan ko ulit kung paano umasenso ang bayan economically isa sa mga priorities natin dito. Kasi kung pababayaan natin, wala tayo initiative na aasa na lang tayo sa IRA (internal revenue allotment from the national government). Lumalaki ang population ng bayan gusto natin mag develop, gusto natin lalong umunlad”.

Incase a shopping mall rises on the gutted central school it would compete with the nearby CSI Mall owned by Dagupan City mayor Belen Fernandez.

Camacho said he aggressively campaign for more collection so he could fund more vital and ambitious projects as he ends his third term in 2016.

This town has a proposed budget of P186 million next year - an amount considered one of the highest among first class towns in Pangasinan.