“There was nothing—no chair, no classroom, no water, nor electricity… nothing,” narrated Marites Chan as she recalled the beginning of her journey as the teacher-in-charge at Mt. Apo National High School (Mt. Apo Campus Extension of Binugao National High School or BNHS before).
Wayback 2015, Marites was transferred from BNHS to Mt. Apo National High School, which is situated in an outlying area of Davao City. She shared that when she first arrived at this school, she honestly felt down because there was nothing even a chair; however, she realized that the school has enough because she is there. Realizing that she was sent there to be an instrument of learning to the youth stirred her passion to serve not only her students but the country, as well, as a public servant.
Years onwards, more or less 50 Bagobo-Tagabawa students every school year are taking classes inside makeshift classrooms: two are too open and rickety, and two are too close and dark, making these unconducive for learning.
Meanwhile, Hedcor does its part in driving change for a better world by advancing its communities. On this note, Hedcor, in partnership with Aboitiz Foundation and the local government unit of Davao City, donated two well-lit and well-ventilated classrooms fully-furnished with armchairs, teacher’s tables, blackboards, ceiling fans, and comfort rooms to give the students and teachers a conducive environment for teaching and learning.
“On behalf of the faculty, truly we are happy with this blessing given through Hedcor and the local government unit of Davao City. I believe that this new classroom can kindle the vision and passion of everyone here towards school development and will inspire our spirit more to continue to make a difference and go beyond for our community and youth,” she expressed.
This donation is Hedcor’s way to support the Department of Education’s advocacy to bring education to our indigenous students.
“Above all, we hope that this facility will serve as an instrument that will encourage our students, our youth in this community to attend school for them to develop competencies that they can use in the future to effect progress not for themselves alone but also for their families and communities. I still believe that our youth is still our hope. They deserve this facility,” added Marites.
Mt. Apo National High School is part of Barangay Sibulan City Side, Davao City—a host community of the Hedcor’s 56.1-MW Sibulan-Tudaya cascading hydro power plants.
Hedcor is the run-of-river hydropower arm of AboitizPower operating 21 power facilities in the country with a total rated capacity of 245 megawatts. By advancing business and communities, Hedcor envisions for ‘A Better Future’ through Cleanergy, our brand for clean and renewable energy.
