Climaco education program surpasses Lobregat’s administration

DISTRICT 1 congressional candidate Mayor Beng Climaco said under her administration, the local government invested some P1.5 billion in education initiatives as part of her priority for the past 9 years.

Climaco’s education expenses for various infra projects and other support programs even surpassed that of the previous nine-year administration of Celso Lobregat. 

“Como antes un maestra, grande tambien fondo el ya dale kita na educacion. We have invested a total of P1.5 billion in education which is 89.84% higher compared to the previous administration’s 9-year term,” said the mayor, who is now on her last term. 

The multi-awarded Climaco said the education budget built at least 62 climate resilient buildings and rehabilitated and improved 23 more school buildings. 

And most noteworthy among these projects is that none of the school buildings bear the name nor the initials of Climaco, unlike in the administration of Lobregat where even the roofs of school buildings are painted with the word “Adelante Zamboanga,” his political battle cry; and the initials CL, an acronym for Celso Lobregat on window grills. 

Climaco said infrastructure projects are continuing to further boost the education program of her administration which will benefit the children whom she referred to as future leaders of Zamboanga. 

“We are also constructing a P79.9 million worth of college building for the Colegio de la Ciudad de Zamboanga – our new local city college which is our baby project under our administration,” she said. 

In addition to school buildings and infrastructure, the mayor said the local government also placed a premium in the development of educational materials for students of all grade levels, including key resources aimed at the preservation and promotion of the Chavacano language. 

She said instruction materials on the mother tongue-based multilingual education were produced for teachers and pupils alike, specifically for Grades I, II, and III and that work textbooks were also developed for the learning of Chavacano in the curriculum for the entire division of Zamboanga City, including reading and history books for different grade levels. 

Climaco said the Chavacano orthography was also submitted to the Komisyon ng Wika for archiving as part of the local government’s efforts in preserving the Spanish creole. 

“With our orthography, we can say that the preservation and promotion of the Chavacano language now stands on solid ground,” she said. 

Chavacano orthography is the same as it is in Spanish orthography with a lesser letter of “r” at the last or second letter of the word. 

Chavacano verbs are mostly Spanish in origin. In contrast to the other varieties, there is rarely a Zamboangueño verb that is based on or has its origin from other Philippine languages. Hence, verbs contribute much of the Spanish vocabulary in Chavacano de Zamboanga. 

The mayor said that Education, along with her priorities in Security and Health, assure better welfare and protection for the Zamboangueños and progress for the City. 

“With social services sector consistently getting the lion’s share, our budgets are indeed the Budget for the People, which consistently represent the administration’s unceasing priorities on Security, Health and Education, with the aim in making Zamboanga City safe, resilient and sustainable, in addressing the disparities in educational opportunities and in ensuring that all constituents, especially the poor and marginalized, have access to quality health services that they need,” she said. (Zamboanga Post and Jasmine Mohammadsali)