Three months after the first community quarantine in March, the construction of the New Punlaan Building restarted. In June 2020, fifty percent of the manpower has resumed work. The shell is complete, interior and exterior works are ongoing. The revised timeline of construction targets the completion of classrooms by June 2021. God willing, if by then the vaccine is done, students will have their theoretical and laboratory classes in the new building.
The New Punlaan Building fundraising resumed as well. The School Development Board is continuously organizing events and presentation meetings for prospective donors. The most recent project is the online pay per view of the digital version of “Guadalupe: The Musical” which is set from October 30 to 31, 2020. The play is an all-Filipino production which was organized in 2018.
The resumption of our fundraising initiatives for the completion of the New Punlaan Building is proof of keeping our promise not only to our beneficiaries but also to our generous donors. The pandemic has caused work stoppage and business closures. In the education sector, the World Bank reported 1.2 billion students affected by school closures worldwide. In the construction sector, construction projects fall in number and a longer lull is expected until year-end. When school closures are the in thing, and construction projects are abandoned, what is keeping our minds into opening a new building? Punlaan School and its owner foundation, The Foundation for Professional Training Inc. (FPTI), sees the urgency of the project from the vantage point of the sector it is serving – the marginalized who are now more in need and more in numbers. Punlaan is for them and will continue to be with them as a bigger building rises that will soon accommodate more scholars.
The pandemic is also a period of discovering more expansion opportunities as Punlaan upgrades and improves all programs and processes amid a crisis. The developments that transpired makes all of us look forward to the day we can resume onsite school operations. After all, the world after COVID-19 is a forthcoming reality. The pandemic only gave us time to be better as a school and as an organization.
Is the New Punlaan Building pandemic proof? Someone might ask. We keep our faith strong, that no matter the obstacles the COVID-19 is yet to bring, a state of the art building will be completely installed. It will be a hallmark of genuine service to countrymen embellished by memories of courageous effort and deep faith during the pandemic.