Senate approves bill on restoration of 'Gabaldon' school buildings

The Senate approved today on third and final reading a bill seeking the restoration and conservation of around 1,446 American-era school buildings known as the "Gabaldon school buildings" to help preserve the country's cultural heritage.

Senator Francis Escudero, chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture and sponsor of House Bill No. 5577, said that "government must prevent the deterioration of the Gabaldon buildings, which were considered part of our national heritage."

"We need to conserve and protect these buildings which symbolize the important reforms in our public education system, and also signify how we Filipinos value education as an important aspect in our growth and development as citizens of the republic," Escudero said.

He said the historic buildings were named after the late Assemblyman Isauro Gabaldon of Nueva Ejica who authored Act No. 180, also known as the Gabaldon Act, which appropriated P1 million for the construction of the 3,000 school buildings nationwide from 1907 to 1946.

Escudero said that the free public schools "were an important reform in the country's education system."

Under the bill, Department of Education (DepEd), National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the National Historal Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), and the National Museum (NM) shall implement a program for the identification and conservation of the remaining Gabaldon school buildings nationwide.

The bill also included penalties such as fines of up P200,000.00 or imprisonment of not less than 10 years, which would be imposed on persons who will "abet or cause" the unauthorized modification, alteration, destruction, demolition, or relocation of the Gabaldon school buildings.

Senator Loren Legarda, principal author and co-sponsor of the bill, said the preservation and restoration of the Gabaldon buildings "would promote the concept of heritage conservation especially in the provinces where many of these remain standing."

"These buildings can be used to ease classroom shortage or congestion, especially in the countryside. As we teach the Filipino youth our nation's culture and history, we should also inculcate in them respect for things that form part of our heritage," Legarda said.

According to Legarda, the Gabaldon school structures symbolize the first foundation of the Philippine public school system during the American colonial regime, in which each Filipino child, even from the most remote areas of the country, had access to formal education."

The bill was co-sponsored by Senators Sonny Angara, Richard Gordon and Juan Miguel Zubiri. (MaeJoy Miranda)