The magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Davao Oriental on 10 October made many buildings unstable and unsafe in the province. With beam cracks caused by the tremor on three old school buildings of the Suaybaguio-Riña Elementary School (SRES) in Magugpo North, Tagum City, the structures were set for demolition and grades 1 and 2 students were accommodated in makeshift classrooms for the meantime.

The turnover by SM Prime and SM Foundation Inc. (SMFI) of a newly-built school building at the SRES on 16 October was very timely and helpful in easing the classroom shortage, according to principal Brigitte Asas.

The two-story, four-classroom SMFI building also do away with other discomforts from the other structures built 25 years ago.

“Our old building is not really conducive for learning because it was dark and our students were uncomfortable due to lack of electric fans, unlike in this building where it’s brighter and more spacious,” teacher Elene Saavedra said of the SMFI building.

“Every time it rains, we get nervous because it is an added job to mop and dry the floor… Sometimes we just have to send the students home too which also affects the conduct of our classes,” Saavedra added.

Princess Dumagat, a fellow sixth-grade pupil, appreciates the wood-steel armchairs that came with the building as two to four students share one desk in the old buildings.

Parents are also relieved.

“I am grateful to the SM Foundation because this new building would provide my children with space comfort. They no longer have to endure the congestion, noise, and humidity,” said Faryl Jane Ponce, who has four children studying in SRES.

The principal believes that the new classrooms would ignite excitement for their students which could motivate them to perform better in school.

“This building symbolizes hope for our students and is now a legacy of the SM Foundation. No matter how many principals and teachers retire in this school, the gratitude of the Suaybaguio-Riña Elementary School community would last a lifetime,” Asas said.

Like the schoolbuildings donated by SMFI to other public schools across the country, the one at SRES have fully equipped classrooms, each with a whiteboard, toilet room, four electric fans, teacher’s table and person with disability (PWD)-made armchairs, including ones for left-handed students.

The building also includes the parent-teacher association office, a faculty room, a mini library, a 10-faucet handwashing station, and PWD facilities.