Marcos tasks DPWH to work on reconstruction of QC school building hit by fire

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. tasked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to work on the reconstruction of San Francisco High School in Quezon City that was damaged by fire.

Marcos on Wednesday inspected the Dao Building, which was struck by fire last Sunday. 

''I have instructed the Public Works, the Department of Public Works and Highways na tingnan nila and how long it will take for them to rebuild it. Ang plano yata, itong two stories, gagawing four stories para 'yung ibang facilities na kailangan (the plan is to build a building that is four stories) so in a way that is an opportunity for us to upgrade the building,'' Marcos told reporters.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said that the DPWH has recommended the demolition of the damaged area and building a new structure. 

“Ang recommendation po ng Department of Public Works is gibain na po ‘yung istruktura at gumawa na po ng panibagong four-story, 36-classroom, na nagkakahalaga ng P180 billion,” Angara said in a separate interview. 

(The recommendation of the Department of Public Works is to demolish the structure and build a new four-story, 36-classroom building, which costs P180 billion.) 

Angara said the building would be finished in one year. 

The fire broke out in the school a day before the opening of classes for School Year 2025-2026. Fire authorities raised the first alarm at 10:52 a.m. The Bureau of Fire Protection eventually raised the third alarm.

Firemen were able to put the fire under control before 12 noon.

The said school is near a shopping mall, which was not affected by the blaze. 

According to Marissa Rodriguez, the school principal, investigation is still ongoing as regards the cause of the fire. 

The initial cost of damage was P3 million, according to Rodriguez. 

But, according to the President, it seems that the cause of the fire was ''electrical.''

Marcos said schools must ensure that there would be no overloading in the electrical systems of their facilities. 

''We have to look at the other schools also at tiyakin at the very least, may magandang fuse box para di makapag overload sa ating electrical systems (Ensure that there are working fuse boxes so there will be no overloading in the electrical systems),'' Marcos said.

At least 600 students were affected by the fire, the principal said. She, however, ensured that the classes were not disrupted as they implemented double shifts for senior high school students. 

“Actually hindi naman siya masyadong naapektuhan pero ang ginawa po namin kasi nakaplot po kasi ang senior high school na single shift kasi mayroon kaming enough classrooms for the senior high school,” Rodriguez said. 

(The classes weren't affected much. Since the senior high school had single shifts, we have enough classrooms for the senior high school.)

“Ngayong nasunog po siya, we opted to revert to double shift para maaccommodate po ‘yung mga bata na nawalan po ng classrooms,” she added. 

(After it burned down, we opted to revert to double shifts to accommodate the children who lost their classrooms.) 

Marcos, meanwhile, guaranteed that the destroyed equipment and other education materials would be replaced. 

''We have to replace that otherwise the teachers cannot do their job,'' Marcos said.  —VAL, GMA Integrated News