As schools prepare to reopen in the new normal, PLDT, in partnership with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), recently turned over new classrooms — built from the proceeds of a sustainable recycling program — to Pula Elementary School in Barangay Pula, Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija.
PLDT constructed the two-storey, four-classroom building with funds from the Motolite-PBSP Balik Baterya program, a sustainable partnership program that encourages member companies to donate their used lead acid batteries (ULABs) for proper recycling.
The fund derived from the responsible waste disposal is then used for various education projects, such as new classrooms.
“Realizing the urgent need for classrooms in many regions across the country, and guided by its core value of malasakit, the PLDT Group has been donating classrooms over the years through its various education programs,” said PLDT and Smart First Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Catherine Yap-Yang.
“With PLDT's support to the Motolite-PBSP Balik Baterya Program, our education assistance has built and rehabilitated more than 40 classrooms nationwide,” she added.
The new learning facility “is a crystal clear and concrete proof of collaboration and partnership between institutions to aspire and help change the world through empowerment and education,” said Pula Elementary School Principal and Head Teacher Dr. Lea Pauline V. Escuadro.
“These two benevolent partners, PLDT and PBSP, are one with the Department of Education in our dream of creating Filipinos who contribute meaningfully in nation building, and there’s no better way to start doing that than to invest in a facility for education,” Escuadro pointed out.
According to PBSP Executive Director Elvin Ivan Uy, “Today is another milestone as we count another school benefitting from the Balik Baterya program partnership. We hope that this two-storey four-classroom building will be of great significance as our schools gear up for face to face classes in the new and better normal.”
“We are optimistic that these well-appointed classrooms will inspire our beloved teachers as they impart knowledge to their students who, in turn, would be eager to learn and pursue their dreams,” PLDT Community Relations Head Katherine P. Diaz De Rivera noted.
To ensure that there is #NoLearnerLeftBehind, PLDT and its wireless subsidiary Smart enable learning communities by building education facilities through sustainable programs like the Balik Baterya.
This is also part of their commitment to help the country achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #4: Inclusive Quality Education and SDG#11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.