Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan took pride in the groundbreaking of a new school building in Tondo, Manila, on Thursday, October 17, saying that she did not need to take a loan for this project.
"Pwede naman palang di mangutang para makapagpatayo ng isang mataas na paaralang gusali. Pupuwede palang lumapit lang sa isang kaibigan at manghingi, isang kaibigan na nagmamalasakit di lang sa kanyang distrito kundi sa buong Maynila (You do not need to borrow to build a new school building. You can just go to a friend and ask, a friend who cares not only for his district but for the whole of Manila),” she said referring to Congressman Rolan ‘CRV’ Valeriano.
She announced that the Universidad de Manila (UdM) which is being run by the city government and headed by President Dr. Felma Carlos-Tria, will soon accept more students who want to avail of the city’s free college education with a monthly allowance.
Manila Vice Mayor John Marvin "Yul Servo" Nieto and Congressman Rolan "CRV" Valeriano join the mayor in the groundbreaking ceremony of the new 10-story annex building of UdM, which will be built in Vitas, Tondo.
Also present were second District Councilors "Dr. J" Buenaventura, Macky Lacson, Uno Lim, Rod Lacsamana, Roma Robles and David Chua.
In their message, Lacuna-Pangan and Nieto explained how Valeriano showed his genuine concern for Manila by allotting funds for the school building construction in the first district, even if he is a congressman representing the second district of Manila.
“Pupuwede rin pala. Kaya ako, di ako nahihiyang manghingi o lumapit sa mga taong alam kong makakatulong sa ating lungsod. Di ko na pinabibigat pa ang obligasyon ng ng ating lungsod dahil alam ko meron pang ibang mapupuntahan ang mga pondong nasisinop natin, napupunta sa allowance ng mga mag-aaral pero ang gusali, puwedeng-pwede naman palang ipanghingi. Maraming-maraming salamat, Congressman Valeriano (We can do it. I'm not shy to ask help or approach people who I know can help our city. I'm not burdening the obligation of our city because I know there are places where the funds we save can go, it goes to the students' allowance while the building can be requested. Thank you very much, Congressman Valeriano),” the mayor said in her speech.
The mayor, citing statistics provided by Tria, noted that most of the 10,000 UdM students are from Tondo.
With the annex building, she said more students from Tondo will be able to pursue free college education and enjoy the monthly allowance being given by the local government on top of the quality education of UdM.
The mayor said she was sad for the students who did not reach the cut-off score during enrollment as there is a limit to the number of students that can be accommodated at UdM due to its capacity limit.
For his part, Valeriano thanked Speaker Martin Romualdez whom he said helped him get funding for the project.
“Hindi po imposible dahil madaling nagawan ng paraan sa pakikipagtulungan sa Speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, ako po ay nakakuha ng pondo. Maraming salamat kay Speaker Romualdez at gayundin kina Mayor Honey at Vice Mayor Yul, dahil ipinagkatiwala ninyo ang lupang ito, kaya matutupad na di lang ang pangarap ko at nina Mayor Honey at Vice Mayor Yul, kundi maging ang pangarap ng mga taga-Tondo na makatapos ng kolehiyo (It's not impossible because it was easy to find a way and with the help of Speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, I was able to get funding. Thank you very much to Speaker Romualdez and also to Mayor Honey and Vice Mayor Yul, because you entrusted this land, so that not only my dream and that of Mayor Honey and Vice Mayor Yul will come true but also the dream of the people of Tondo to finish college)," Valeriano added.