The program funds the construction of two-classroom school buildings in the Philippines and is one of the priorities of its Department of Labor and Employment.
On Tuesday, the Filipino Community Foundation and the Simbang Gabi Group of Saipan turned over the checks to Consul General Wilfredo DL. Maximo at the Filipino Workers Resource Center in Susupe.
Sara National High School in Sara, Iloilo, a central Philippine province, will be the recipient of funding for the construction of two classroom.
The other beneficiary is a school in the southern province of Misamis Oriental.
Maximo said these will be the 15th two-classroom buildings that Filipino groups in the CNMI have funded since the implementation of the program.
“This is a good investment for the Filipino children especially those in schools severely affected by national disasters,” he said.
Philippine labor representative to the CNMI Joan Lourdes D. Lavilla thanked the Filipino groups for supporting the program.
The Philippine government aims to build hundreds of new classrooms nationwide through donations from overseas Filipino communities, foreign employers, private companies, civic organizations and other individuals.
Filipino Community Foundation chairwoman Maribel Loste is hoping that the Philippine government will make use of the classrooms in a good way.
“We have only a small group but we have a very big heart for our fellow Filipinos,” Loste said, as she extended her group’s gratitude to all its “hard-working coordinators and the donors for their generosity.”
In an separate interview, Simbang Gabi Group 2008 chairman Renato Atienza said they have been raising funds for worthy causes since 2003.
“This is the commitment of the Simbang Gabi group,” he said, adding that they also perform other community services like cleanup drives and the installation of the Nativity scene during the holiday season at the Mt. Carmel Cathedral.
Atienza said they also provided financial support and assorted canned goods to at least 60 low-income families in the community.
