IN CADIZ, SAGAY
P73M work ongoing in
Yolanda-hit schools
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Some students in Yolanda-hit areas in Cadiz and Sagay cities in Negros Occidental were still attending classes in makeshift classrooms, using tarpaulins as temporary roofing, yesterday, while P73 million in repairs and construction work are underway.

Cadiz Mayor Patrick Escalante said the Department of Education has allocated P25 million in Yolanda quick-response funds for the repair of classrooms in his city.

The P25 million is for the repair of 104 classrooms that were damaged by the typhoon, while the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. has allocated P17 million for the construction of 12 new classrooms, Roel Bermejo, Cadiz Schools Division superintendent, said.

Classroom shortage,
late enrollees on day 1
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Classes in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental public schools began yesterday with some schools still faced with classroom shortages, and late enrolees.

Negros Occidental Schools Superintendent Juliet Jeruta yesterday reiterated that enrolment will be allowed only until Friday.

Bacolod Schools Superintendent Gemma Ledesma said yesterday that they expect about two percent increase in public school enrolees from kindergarten to high school in Bacolod City, but were still conducting actual headcounts.

2,000 join teachers pay protest
BY ADRIAN NEMES III

About 2,000 public school teachers in Negros Occidental staged a protest in front of the Fountain of Justice at the Bacolod City Hall on the first day of classes yesterday, pressing for the passage of House Bill 245 that would increase their basic pay to P25,000.

Some of the teachers who came from the cities of Bacolod, Talisay, Silay and Bago, and the towns of Pulupandan and Murcia wore black arm bands to show their sorrow over the non-passage of the bill while others carried placards stating their demands

They marched from the Rizal Elementary School to the Fountain of Justice where they held a candle-lighting activity.