EDUCATION Secretary Sonny Angara yesterday inaugurated a flood-resistant building at the Masantol High School in Pampanga, which is part of a broader initiative to make learning spaces more disaster-resilient amid the worsening impacts of climate change.
“This classroom in Masantol will become the model building for flood-prone areas. In Bicol and Bulacan. That is also what our President wants, to have a permanent solution, instead of us always adjusting. We must adapt our policies,” Angara said during the inauguration
Last year, the DepEd rolled out a 5-year program dubbed the Infrastructure for Safer and Resilient Schools (ISRS) Project to ensure the resilient recovery of disaster-affected schools and reduce disruption in the delivery of education services.
Angara said the DepEd will also construct more disaster-resilient school buildings through Public-Private Partnerships.
“Our facilities must have structural integrity to withstand stronger typhoons and earthquakes,” Angara added.
Early this year, the DepEd broke ground on the country’s first 12-story public school building in Cebu, designed to withstand severe weather conditions.
The “flood-resilient” school buildings are part of DepEd’s upgraded standard designs meant for flood-prone areas.
The DepEd said these are typically constructed using reinforced concrete and structural steel to ensure strength and durability against water and wind hazards.
The buildings also follow a stilt-type or elevated design, which has been especially effective in regions with frequent flooding.
“This design concept was previously applied in typhoon-resilient schools in areas like Bicol, and has since been refined through site-specific risk assessments and climate-adaptive planning,” it added.
DepEd Media Relations Officer Dennis Legaspi said the idea with the “flood resilient” school building is the flexibility it gives to schools that experience severe and prolonged flooding.
He added that a normal 2-storey school building will be built like a 3-storey building with the ground floor completely open.
“Thus, during the dry season or low tide, the ground floor can be used as classrooms, as all they need to do is board up the area and use it as multiple learning spaces. Other times, the space can be used as a multi-purpose hall. During high tide, it will remain as the stilted area as the usable space will only be the 2nd and upper floors,” Legaspi explained.
Aside from the school’s inauguration, Angara also spearheaded relief operations in Masantol and Macabebe, also in Pampanga.
At the Macabebe Elementary School, Angara, along with other local officials, led the distribution of another round of relief packs.
The relief mission in Pampanga provided over 2,000 food packs for teachers, non-teaching staff, and their families.
The DepEd chief has also done the same at the San Isidro Elementary School and San Nicolas Elementary School, both in Masantol town.
Masantol and Macabebe were among the areas in Pampanga hit hard by flooding due to the onslaught of typhoons and the southwest monsoon last month.
The DepEd team also conducted damage assessments in schools in both towns while also offering psychosocial support and ensuring continuity of learning.
