Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luis “Luigi” Quisumbing has found a way to address the lack of available spaces for the city’s public schools: recover city-owned lots, which were questionably disposed of, and construct new school buildings in these recovered lots.
Quisumbing said in an interview after his State of the Children’s Address (SOCA) on Monday at the Mandaue City Cultural Sports Complex, which was attended by about 1,000 students and parents.
It was an event to mark the 26th National Children’s Month.
He highlighted the importance of quality education for the children in his speech.
“Giving our children an education is one of the most important tools that they can use to reach their full potential,” Quisumbing said.
But he also admitted the lack of space to construct new school buildings to accommodate the growing children’s population.
“Ang pinakadakong challenge sa Mandaue is ang pagpalit sa yuta ug tukoran nato og bag-ong day care centers, mga skwelahan (Mandaue’s biggest challenge is acquiring lots where we can build day care centers and schools),” he said.
“It is difficult for us to provide the basic learning environment,” said Quisumbing, who cited the growing population of children as a possible factor affecting the quality of education of the city’s public schools.
He then cited the City Council’s ongoing review of all city-owned properties and to find out if there were irregularities in the disposal of these lots.
He then said that if there would be lots which were questionably disposed of, then the city government would recover them and use them for new schools, housing projects and for government offices.
Right now, we find it difficult to look for lots that we could use. Unfortunately, the city doesn’t have lots that it could use to build schools, for housing projects. That is one of the reasons why we are doing an inventory of city-owned lots, he said in Cebuano.
“We will make sure that the problems of the past will be resolved and that the children will be given a fresh start,” he added.
Apart from that, the mayor also reminded the parents to be responsible in looking after and nurturing their children’s development.
Quisumbing said good parenting would be the foundation of shaping the children, in line with this year’s theme “Isulong: Tamang Pag-aaruga Para sa Lahat ng Bata.”