Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro (left) and Gov. Hilario Davide III unveil the marker acknowledging the donation of the Sudlon lot to DepEd Cebu Province Division.(CDN/JULIE ANN ROSETTE SIBI)
The Department of Education (DepEd) Cebu Province Division now has a comfortable home that they can call their own after 61 years of “squatting.”
Last Wednesday, Gov. Hilario Davide III turned over the 6,148 sq.m. lot where the DepEd Cebu building stands to school officials headed by Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro.
A deed of donation was signed by Cebu Schools Division Superintendent Arden Monisit, Vice Gov Agnes Magpale, Bro. Luistro, Gov. Davide, Provincial Board Member Peter Calderon, and DepEd regional director Juliet Jeruta, during the occasion held at the Casino Español de Cebu.
“We can now focus on providing better educational facilities and accessible education for Cebuanos,” said Monisit.
The building in sitio Sudlon, barangay Lahug, Cebu City occupied by DepEd Cebu since 2008 was the former Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO).
“Not having a permanent edifice discourages many. It is as if the government shows no priority to education and that Cebu’s education system is weak,” said Monisit.
He said they have been squatting in buildings that the province has allowed them to use since 1954, and only Governor Davide has solved this problem.
“Investing in education is recognized by everyone as one effective way of reducing poverty in a family, in a community, and eventually helps in the development of Cebu,” said Davide during the signing.
Luistro, in his message, said he hoped that other owners of lots occupied by schools to also donate their lands to DepEd.
Luistro said that more than 15,000 schools in the country have no proper lot titles. He said some local government officials reserve their land for business and housing for economic improvement and hardly blink an eye for education.
“Our local government units need to have a vision and a strong political will and commitment to education, and I see this in Cebu. Education has to be given importance by local leaders so we can build school buildings and educational facilities,” said Luistro.
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