Capitol vows full support to new public high school in San Luis

By Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu

Sunday 10th of June 2012

SAN LUIS, Pampanga, June 9 (PIA) -- The governor here vowed full support to the newly established San Luis High School (SLHS), and gave full commitment to give P3 million as provincial government’s counterpart to the P6-million total payment of the school’s property.

Governor Lilia Pineda is determined to invest for the education of the young as she believes, “nung alang pormal a edukasyun, alang masanting a kinabukasan (If there is no formal education, there will be no brighter tomorrow)."

The other P3-million counterpart will be shouldered by the local government here, which they would get from their municipal development fund.

The former A. Gonzales Sioco High School, a private entity here has ceased its operations this year. However, the local government, headed by Mayor Venancio “Asyong” Macapagal, intervened and entered into an agreement with the owners to buy it at cost of P6-million and since then, they have converted it into a public high school.

A formal launch of the San Luis High School was held in the presence of the governor, Board Members Nestor “Bay” Tolentino, Ricardo Yabut, Monina “Monz” Laus, Trina Dizon, Fritzie David Dizon, members of the Sangguniang Bayan, parents and students.

According to Councilor Romulo Batu, it was a huge risk for the municipal government to purchase the private school since the town has limited budget.

However, Macapagal and the members of the sangguniang bayan saw this as a good investment since it would benefit the youth of San Luis and decided to push through with the project.

“Para ya kareng anak ini, keng kinabukasan da (This is for the future of the children)” Macapagal declared.

SLHS would serve students from barangays Sta. Cruz Poblacion, Sto. Tomas, Sta. Rita, Sta. Lucia, Sto. Rosario, San Sebastian, Sta. Maria and San Agustin. More than 400 students are currently enrolled.

Because of this development, Dr. Nicolas Capulong, assistant schools division superintendent of Pampanga, lauded Macapagal and Pineda for their commitment to provide quality and accessible education for the youth of Pampanga.

“Ing Pampanga malugud ya kareng memalen, lalu na kareng megaral (Pampanga prioritizes the welfare of its citizens particularly in education),” Capulong stated.

Meanwhile, Pineda also disclosed that the provincial government, together with the municipal government, would shoulder the teachers’ salaries and operations expenses while waiting for the budget approval from the national government. (CLJD with reports from Pampanga PIO)