THE DEPARTMENT of Education inaugurated a century-old Gabaldon building at the Piat Central School in Piat, Cagayan province.

The inauguration is part of DepEd’s conservation and restoration of Gabaldon Schoolhouses and other heritage buildings project.

“While conserving or restoring the Gabaldon buildings, we restore also the historical and the cultural contributions of these entities. We not only restore them physically, but we need to restore the history,” DepEd Undersecretary for Administration Alain Pascua said.

“Maraming Gabaldon buildings ang naging camps, seats of government, dito rin nag-aral ang ibang mga congressman, mga senador at naging pangulo ng bansa. Ito dapat ay maisulat sa kasaysayan ng Gabaldon at sa kasaysayan ng DepEd,” Pascua added.

He also highlighted the need to maintain these historical buildings after the restoration, saying that maintaining these old buildings is more tedious than maintaining new ones.

The DepEd official shared that the agency made a proposal for additional maintenance and operating expenses for schools that house a Gabaldon building.

Pascua urged the schools with Gabaldon buildings to use them as classrooms, museums, school offices and venue for cultural event activities to showcase the beauty and history of the buildings.

“Hindi simpleng ni-re-restore lang at pinagaganda. Gusto rin natin na ang ating mga kabataan ay rooted din sa history at kasaysayan ng kanyang bayan. At ang testament diyan ay mga Gabaldon,” he shared.

Meanwhile, DepEd Region II Director Benjamin Paragas expressed his gratitude for the restoration of the Gabaldon Buildings in Piat and across the region.

“Let this be a school house where there is peace among our teachers and employees; where there is love for our learners; and where there is desire and passion to continuously deliver quality education,” Paragas said.

There are 52 Gabaldon schoolhouses in Region II and 29 are under major repair.