The only Catholic high school in Tayasan, Negros Oriental, is ready to welcome old students and new enrollees when classes open on June 4, three months after its building was destroyed by the 6.9-magnitude earthquake on February 6.

Outgoing Archbishop John Du of the Diocese of Dumaguete led the blessing of four brand new one-level classrooms of the St. Anthony Academy, to replace the two-storey facility that collapsed at the height of the quake.

The classrooms were built with funds from donors, Fr. Salvador Mariño, parish priest of Tayasan, said. Two more classrooms and an administration building will also be constructed, he added.

The academy, that celebrated its golden anniversary November last year, is one of 14 schools in Negros Oriental and Siquijor under the administration of the Diocese.

Du thanked the donors and said he hopes that the St. Anthony Church and its shrine will also be repaired as these were also damaged by the quake.

He said the rebuilding of the academy had been one of his priorities, before his installation as the new archbishop of the Archdiocese of Palo, Leyte, on May 9. Du has served Dumaguete for more than 10 years.*JFP

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