For more than a decade, BDO Foundation has supported schools through the yearly Brigada Eskwela and other education initiatives. In Brigada Eskwela, it partners with local communities and mobilizes BDO employees in helping create learning environments where students can thrive and pursue their dreams.

For Brigada Eskwela 2026, some 630 BDO employees worked side by side with teachers, parents, community members and other volunteers in cleaning classrooms, repainting walls and furniture, planting vegetable seedlings in school gardens, and carrying out minor repairs and maintenance work in six partner schools, namely Gregoria De Jesus Elementary School in Caloocan City; Daanghari Elementary School and Navotas I Elementary School in Navotas City; Ilagan South Central School in Ilagan City, Isabela; Dansolihon Elementary School in Cagayan De Oro City, Misamis Oriental; and Hermenegilda F. Gloria Memorial Elementary School in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.

BDO also donated more than 500 gallons of paint, over 1,400 painting materials, more than 400 cleaning materials, and 80 trays of vegetable seedlings to support the school cleanup and repair activities.

Dr. Rita E. Riddle, assistant regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region, thanked the BDO volunteers who showed up during the Brigada Eskwela day saying they have proven that the spirit of bayanihan in the Philippines is truly alive.

Dr. Cecille G. Carandang, schools division superintendent of the DepEd Schools Division Office of Caloocan, said, “You just didn’t bring gallons of paint, rags or brooms. What you really brought was hope.”

Jerome C. Guevarra, chief of staff of the BDO Unibank president, said the volunteerism of its employees was a chance to participate in DepEd’s advocacy of supporting and ensuring the education and well-being of our youth.

BDO Foundation president Mario A. Deriquito said the simple acts of service of the volunteers can make a meaningful difference in a child’s education journey.

“We are here to express and show our solidarity with all the people who work very hard every day to ensure that our children will have a bright future,” he said.

“We will clean the assigned classrooms. We will repaint them. We will repaint some of the furniture. We may also do some minor repairs. These may seem small, but all of these things taken together is an investment in every child’s education journey,” Deriquito added.