The Coral Bay Nickel Corporation (CBNC) inaugurated and turned over a 2-classroom building at Marabon Elementary School in Barangay Bancalaan, Balabac town last Monday, July 15.
The school building, which is one of the many projects established by CBNC funded through its Information, Education, and Communication fund, was constructed by the mining firm to augment the shortage of classrooms in the remote island barangay.
Department of Education Palawan (DepEd-Palawan) Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Elsie Barrios said she personally attended the turnover ceremony to “express appreciation to CBNC as one of DepEd’s generous sponsors,” underscoring its commitment to help DepEd in its quest for quality education.
Barrios was joined by Balabac District Supervisor Romie Fresnillo, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer (MDRRMO) Chan Alsad who represented Mayor Shuaib Astami, and officials of Brgy. Bancalaan.
“The Department of Education is just so grateful to the generosity and dedication of CBNC in helping us in the department to address the inadequacies of the school,” said Barrios.
Marabon Elementary School has more than 1,000 enrollees who have long been using dilapidated open classrooms to hold classes. School officials said that with the addition of 2 classrooms, the students and teachers can now conveniently hold their classes uninterrupted even during unfavorable weather conditions.
Meanwhile, school principal Kirby Ladjahassan also expressed gratitude to CBNC for the school building. “I deeply salute CBNC for this project. They really have the heart. Before we even sent our formal request to grant us a new school building, they reached out to us first,” said Ladjahassan.
“We are just so grateful to them because they know how much we really need this project,” he added.
The 2-classroom project in Sitio Marabon is the 2nd school building project built by CBNC in Balabac. In July last year, the company also constructed a 5-classroom building at Matanggule National High School.
“Our engagement in Balabac started long before when Balabac was hit by Typhoon Vinta. That incident opened our eyes to the need to give attention to our neighbor. From then on, even with not so big projects, CBNC has always been there for Balabac,” CBNC Information, Education & Communication Officer Fe Madona Peralta stated.”
