On Monday, these children, who are in first and second grades, helped Department of Public Works construction inspector Eugene Borja apply the finishing touches to a bus stop shelter at the intersection of As Teo Drive and Santa Lourdes St.
The designated bus stop shelter located along Isa Drive is more than 800 feet away from the houses of the students.
One day, Borja said his father’s heart “bled” when he saw his grandchildren and other students walking in the rain clutching their bags.
The next day, his father met with their neighbors and they decided to seek Rep. Justo S. Quitugua’s help.
The lawmaker, Borja said, immediately notified DPW and proposed an appropriation of $10,000 for the construction of a new bus stop shelter in the area, which the Public School System also approved.
Borja, who was assigned to design and construct the bus shelter, said he wanted the children to have some fun by letting them help paint the shelter.
Borja said there are other intersections that are more convenient to be drop-off areas for school children due to their proximity to the inner villages. However, these areas usually do not have shelters.
One parent in Kagman told Variety several months ago how she was appalled to see children standing in the rain at an “unsheltered” drop-off point along Kamachili Ave.
“Every weekday before sending our children off to school we remind them that we love them, we care about them and we want them to have a wonderful day and to please be safe. For those of us who let our children ride the bus to school, we always remind them about the safety of crossing the streets. Of course when they get to the bus stop we expect that they will be sheltered away from unexpected rain or whatever Mother Nature throws at us. But when I passed by this bus stop, I wondered how can my children be sheltered in this mess that’s supposed to be a place for my kids to be safe while waiting for the bus to get there,” she said.
“I passed by some bus shelters in the areas around Kagman 1 and 2 and they are more secured than this particular one. The residents within this area who make their children ride the bus along Kamachili Ave in Kagman 2 have waited long enough to see if this bus shelter is ever going to be reconstructed if not repaired.”
The so-called “structure,” she said, is anything but.
“It has fallen apart, and we as parents and guardians worry every single day that our children may be sitting in that ‘thing’ which would eventually fall at any time and someone could really get hurt. We don’t know if we should contact our House of Representatives or Public School System in this situation, but hopefully someone in charge would be reading this and take the time to pass by Kamachili Ave in Kagman 2 and see for yourselves what our children have to sit in every morning to wait for the bus,” she said.
