Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan led the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a school building at the Emilio Jacinto Elementary School in Tondo, Manila on Monday, Dec. 11.

Lacuna-Pangan was joined by Manila Vice Mayor John Marvin "Yul Servo" Nieto, Division of City Schools Superintendent Rita Riddle, Principal Minerva Rosco, City Engineer Armand Andres, Councilor Nino dela Cruz, and teachers, parents, and students of Emilio Jacinto Elementary School.

The new six-story school building will soon rise on a 2,800 square-meter area.

"Ito ay bahagi ng patuloy na pagsisikap ng ating pamahalaang-lungsod ng Maynila, sa tulong ng Kagawaran ng Edukasyon, na matugunan natin ang mga pangangailangan ng mga Batang Manilenyo sa kanilang pag-aaral sa ating mga pampublikong paaralan (This is part of the ongoing efforts of our city government of Manila, with the help of the Department of Education, to meet the needs of Manila children in their studies in our public schools)," the mayor said. 

Based on the project plan, the new building will have 35 classrooms, three Science laboratory rooms, three Home Economics (HE) rooms, three rooms for Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE), a faculty room, a library, Information Communications Technology (ICT) room, social hall, canteen, feeding and practice rooms, a roof deck for outdoor sports, audio-visual room, and a basketball court.

Every floor in the building will have two stairs, and male and female comfort rooms.

"At higit sa lahat, mayroon itong dalawang elevator units upang makatulong sa mga mag-aaral at mga guro na umakyat at bumaba sa ating bagong gusali. Tunay na magandang pasilidad para sa mga taga-Emilio Jacinto Elementary School (And best of all, it has two elevator units to help students and teachers get up and down in our new building. A very nice facility for the people of Emilio Jacinto Elementary School)," the mayor said. 

"Ang ganitong mga proyekto ay bunga ng maingat at masinop na pangangasiwa sa pondo ng ating lungsod. Binibigyan natin ng mataas na prayoridad sa paggugol ng salapi ng bayan ang mga payak na kailangan ng ating mga mamamayan. Hangad namin na magsilbi itong inspirasyon para sa ating mga Batang Manilenyo na mag-aral mabuti, gayundin para sa ating mga guro na higit pang magsipag at pag-igihan pa nilang lalo ang kanilang mga gawain (These projects are the result of careful and prudent management of our city's funds. We give high priority in spending public money to the simple needs of our citizens. We hope that this will serve as an inspiration for our Batang Manileños to study hard, as well as for our teachers to work harder and excel in their work)," she added. 

She called on the faculty members, parents, and students to take care of the new building so that the next generations of "Batang Manileños" could also benefit from the project.