THE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) targets to complete at least 1,200 classrooms in the next four years under its newest flagship infrastructure projects.
Alejandro Tengco, Pagcor chairman and chief executive officer, announced the details of its new projects during the signing of a Joint Memorandum Circular last October 23 with its partner agencies, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), a statement from the gaming regulator said yesterday.
“In four years, we hope to build at least 1,200 classrooms or about 300 classrooms per year under this new infrastructure push as part of our commitment to nation-building,” Tengco said,adding that the agency will prioritize far-flung and remote communities.
Aside from the school buildings, Tengco said Pagcor will also build 200 e-learning centers which will be built in areas with a high concentration of learning institutions.
Each e-learning center will have 48 computer stations with internet connection, making them ideal hubs for online research and even for computer literacy courses.
A third leg of the flagship projects will be health and wellness centers which will feature doctors’ offices and consultation rooms, dental clinics, vaccination rooms, treatment rooms and a multi-purpose area.
Tengco said Pagcor will build at least 100 health and wellness centers in the next four years nationwide to help bring quality healthcare especially in poor communities and local government units (LGUs).
Lastly, Tengco said Pagcor will build 50 socio-civic centers which beneficiary local government units can utilize as seminar and training venues as well as for hosting social and community gatherings that could potentially generate revenues for the beneficiary LGUs.
The multi-purpose socio-civic centers can also be used as evacuation facilities during calamities and disasters.
“We want these projects to benefit as many Filipinos as possible because we believe that laying the groundwork for a stronger nation is not the sole responsibility of the education sector but should be a collective effort of agencies and organizations,” Tengco said.
The signing of the joint memorandum was attended by DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan and DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara.
Under the memorandum circular, the DPWH will undertake the construction of the new PAGCOR flagship projects, while the DepEd will administer the schools and E-Learning Centers, including providing teachers and other personnel.
Angara said Pagcor’s commitment to build more classrooms will be of great help to the education sector.
“Currently our classroom deficit is at 165,000. We are thankful to Pagcor and DPWH because these projects will definitely improve the learning experience our students,” Angara said.
Bonoan also expressed his appreciation to Pagcor for its trust and confidence in DPWH to spearhead the construction school buildings and other facilities in various parts of the country.
“This is going to be challenging but we are committed to face the challenges and complete these noble undertakings with Pagcor and DepEd,” he said.
