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The more than 120 high school students of Brgy. Patungan in Maragondon, Cavite, will have another reason to celebrate once they return to school this January. The three-classroom Bucal National High School Santa Mercedes Annex is now equipped with a solar energy system capable of providing light and powering up one computer unit and one audio-visual set. Installed in December 2011, the solar energy system was donated by the Japan-based TAIFUKYO or Union of Retired Teachers, through the People-to-People (P2) Aid Movement of Japan.

The high school building in Patungan

The high school annex itself was recently built through bayanihan during the summer months of 2011. Parents who sent their children to the main high school in Wawa, Nasugbu, Batangas spent a total of 80 pesos for transportation, room rental and daily allowance — an enormous amount for the majority of poor fishing households of Patungan. This led the parents to organize themselves and ask the Department of Education- Maragondon Division to put up an annex in the village in order to reduce cost as well as to be closer to their children. Parents and students alike came to build the school. The elders sourced wood from the nearby forest, while the students provided the labor. Gravel was taken from the river, and the sand was transported from the beach. Teachers also held fund raising activities and solicited materials not readily available in the area. When school opened in June 2011, a total of 120 students packed themselves in three rooms, with the soil for flooring. Improvement of the school facilities has been an ongoing affair, depending on the availability of materials.

Technicians installing the solar panels at the rooftop of the school building

The coastal village of Patungan is home to more than 400 households whose main livelihood is fishing. It is literally at the mouth-entrance of Manila Bay. Just like any isolated community, far from the local electric grid, a privately-owned generator provides light from 6-10 pm daily, or depending on the daily collection to purchase diesel fuel. Households who can afford have standby generator sets to provide light on nights when the central generator set fails to go online as scheduled. On school days, students have limited time to make their assignments, review past notes and do advance readings.

PRRM has been in Patungan since 1996. The first initiatives were livelihood support for fisher folks and coral reef protection, funded by IPADE (Instituto de Promocion y Apoyo el Desarollo). IPADE of Spain is a major funding partner of PRRM.

In 2001, it launched the Santa Mercedes Fish Sanctuary off the coast of the village with a local fishers association, the SAMMERPAT, or Samahan ng Mangingisda sa Mercedes Patungan, organized by PRRM. P2 has been a long-time partner of PRRM in its community-based coastal resource management program in Manila Bay. In fact, P2 always visits Patungan whenever they are in the Philippines. P2 members, staff and volunteers have gained a good understanding of the social conditions in the village. Thus, when TAIFUKYO funds became available, P2 suggested a solar system installation for the school.

Ms. Vilma D. Peliña, officer-in-charge of the high school annex, with one of her students, testing the solar energy system through the computer.

Vilma Peliña, the high school annex’s officer-in-charge, readily agreed to the donation. During the solar energy orientation last December, parents and members of the Santa Mercedes Barangay Council discussed approaches and methods to sustain the solar energy systems. Initial agreements will be presented to the Parents-Teachers-Community Association early this January for approval. Negotiations are also ongoing for the construction of an additional classroom in the annex to house the high school’s graduating class.

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