The Department of Education regional office in Davao lauded the Filipino-Chinese community and Chinese philanthropist Huang Ru Lun for donating a three-story building to Erico Nograles National High School.
On Tuesday night during the China National Day Celebration at SMX Convention Center, the barangay officials of Barangay 76-A Bucana signed a memorandum of agreement for the donation with the Century Golden Resources Group (China) represented by Wilson Techico, vice president of Uni Orient Inc. and the chairman-emeritus of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Association of the Philippines.
The three-story school building has 15 classrooms.
“We thank you so much, dear donors. If we put our acts together we will ensure our children the best education they can get,” said Jenielito Atillo, the department’s Region 11 spokesman.
“This kind of help is really a big offer of assistance to DepEd and we do hope that the school would really take good care of the facility,” the DepEd spokesman said.
The aid from the Chinese, Atillo said, shows that education is global necessity.
He added that the donation is a concrete manifestation or realization of an old adage that “it will take a village to educate a child. The DepEd believes that the education of the children is not only a duty of the government but also of the private sector.”
Erico Nograles has a big student population. The barangay itself is the city’s most populated area. Atillo was also happy that the barangay has found a space for the school building because it needs an area for senior high school.
According to Techico, Huang and his family have lived in the Philippines for many years and have a special affection for the country. He said Huang believes in good education as the key to success.
When asked why he chose Erico Nograles High School as beneficiary, Techico said they saw that the school needed a bigger help than two other schools they visited in the city.
“Huang’s succeeding education-related contributions are already in the process of negotiations,” he said.
Techico said the donation would help promote Philippine-China relations.
The Filipino-Chinese community is instrumental in leading the way to closer relations with China through a cultural exchange program and enhancing economic and the tourism industry by initially bringing Xiamen Air to Davao.
