We Can Be Anything

apl.de.ap attends groundbreaking for new classrooms in CDO

Apl.de.ap took time out from his commercial engagements on February 24 to attend the groundbreaking ceremonies for a two-storey building to house four new classrooms in Balulang Elementary School in Barangay Balulang, Cagayan de Oro (CDO) City.

Balulang Elementary School, which has 1,450 students, is one of many CDO schools that sustained heavy losses in terms of human casualties and damaged facilities as a result of massive floods induced by Typhoon Sendong last December. Ten of the school’s 27 classrooms, plus its science laboratory, were damaged beyond repair, requiring the construction of new facilities.

The school also lost 7,765 text books, 36 sets of television and DVD players, three computers and printers, as well as school supplies, teaching aids, reference materials, work books, and lesson guides, among others.

The Cagayan de Oro City Schools Division of the Department of Education estimated total damage to schools in the city at PhP17,100,000.

In the aftermath of Typhoon Sendong last December, apl.de.ap visited CDO for a first-hand look at the damage wrought on classrooms in the city. After that visit, he chose Balulang Elementary School as the site of the first classroom to be built out of funds raised through the “We Can Be Anything” (WCBA) education advocacy.

The ongoing WCBA campaign has so far generated over PhP4 million from fund-raising events and online contributions through www.wecanbeanything.com. Much more will be raised through WCBA events in Boracay, Manila, Singapore, London, Cannes (France), and the United States in the next few months.