In a move to help the government in providing quality education to Filipino youth, Coral Bay Nickel Corp. (CBNC) and Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC) have started turning-over classrooms to various municipalities in the province of Palawan.
CBNC and RTNMC, both affiliates of Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC) have shelled out more than P15 million for the construction of classrooms in different municipalities as prizes for the first two seasons of the province-wide Palawan Basketball Association (PaBA) tourney.
One of the buildings donated by CBNC and RTNMC was a day-care center in Barangay Tagburos in Puerto Princesa City, which was inaugurated last Monday.
Panfucio L. Inocente, Tagburos barangay chairman, said the day care center was a big help for the community as more underprivileged children will have now access to free and quality education.
“Malaking tulong ito para sa edukasyon ng mga bata dahil hindi na nila kailangang dumayo sa ibang lugar para lamang makapag-aral (This will be a big help to our children because they don’t need to go to other places just to study),” Inocente said during the inauguration.
CBNC Community Relations Manager Ma. Mary Anne O. Baribar said the construction of the day care center and other classrooms was part of the two mining firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) program not only in their impacted communities but for the entire province of Palawan.
Both CBNC and RTNMC have mining operations in Barangay Rio Tuba in Bataraza, Palawan.
“It is beyond of what is required of us. It is beyond our area coverage but that comes from
the generosity of the two companies to share to other communities the benefits that we all have here in Rio Tuba. Tagburos is not part of the impacted community but then again the two companies are too generous to share within the province of Palawan,” said Baribar.
Launched on February 2014, the PaBA has already played two seasons and in the process has already pledged a total of 14 classrooms, with two-time champion Puerto Princesa City winning nine classrooms in total.
RTNMC’s community relations manager Reynaldo M. de la Rosa said for Season 1, the beneficiaries of the new classrooms were Tiniguiban Elementary School and Mangingisda National Highschool in Puerto Princesa City and Narra National High School in Narra, Palawan.
For Season 2, De la Rosa added, the beneficiaries were Tagburos Day Care Center, Manuel Austria Memorial National High School and San Jose Elementary School in Puerto Princesa City; Mary Edwards Memorial National High School and Paratungon Elementary School in Brooke's Point; Sandoval Elementary School in Narra and Sta. Teresita Elementary School in Roxas, Palawan.
Under the PaBA prizing, he said the over-all champion will receive two classrooms while the runner-up and conference champions will be given with one classroom.
Apart from the school buildings, cash prizes were also received by the winning teams (P100,000 for grand champion, P70,000 for first runner-up and P50,000 for second runner-up).
Before the league took off in 2014, De la Rosa thought about giving classroom buildings as additional prize, which will give extra motivation for the teams.
He said PaBA does not only discover new basketball talents but it also helps in providing education to the youth of Palawan through the construction of classrooms.
De la Rosa added, PaBA was not only a tournament but it also helped in developing the skills of both the basketball players and referees.
“Prior to the staging of PaBA conference, we usually hold skills development training for referees and clinics to basketball enthusiasts, which is a year round activity,” said De la Rosa.
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