Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. led the groundbreaking ceremony for a 2-storey, 8-classroom building at Oton National High School (ONHS) on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012.

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) will fund the construction of the 2-storey, 8-classroom building worth P11.2 million.

ONHS principal Nelida Baitan said the project would be a big help in addressing the problem on classroom shortage in their school.

She said ONHS boasts of 3,571 students but with only 86 classrooms.

ONHS is one of the seven public high schools in the province which benefitted from the PAGCOR project that was requested by Gov. Defensor from Pagcor chair Cristino Naguiat Jr.

The other beneficiaries of the project include the national high schools in the towns of Balasan (5-classroom, one-storey building), Estancia (5-classroom, one-storey building), Janiuay (18 classrooms in two structures), Lambunao (8-classroom, two-storey building), Leon (4-classroom, one-storey building), and Pototan (10 classrooms in two structures).

The groundbreaking program in Oton coincided with the school’s 67th Foundation Day celebration.

Defensor noted that many schools in the province lack classrooms and other educational facilities.

Records from the Department of Education showed that the Province of Iloilo currently has a shortage of 788 secondary and 157 elementary classrooms. (ECGarcia/ Capitol News)