Aeta children will soon be getting their own school building, saving them a 14-kilometer walk in the hilly and muddy outskirts of Clark.
It took the efforts of a long-time Korean investor inside the Freeport to put up a six-classroom building in Sitio Gayaman at Barangay Anupul, in Bamban, Tarlac.
Hann Resorts through its CSR program by the Hann Foundation Inc. (HFI) will be shelling out ₱7 million for the project. The very first integrated resort in Clark, the company is owned by Daesik Han.
Currently, the learning facility it is known as Malasa Extension School that offers only Grade 1 to 3. Students in higher grades walk 7 kilometers each way just to reach the Malasa Integrated School.
Once completed, it will be registered as Gayaman Elementary School. It would accommodate 200 students from Kinder to Grade 6, who are mostly Aetas. It will also have a Principal’s office and a dormitory for teachers.
Bamban town is also a recepient of another CSR project by HFI as the latter is spending another P15 million for a 16-bed emergency hospital in the same barangay.
The donations were finalized in a signing of Memorandum of Agreement with Bamban officials and representatives of Department of Education. It was signed during the conduct of KapiHann, the monthly media conference of the Pampanga Press Club at Swisotel Clark inside Hann Resorts.
Bamban Mayor Joey Salting expressed gratitude to HFI, citing the contributions of the Clark locator in helping local communities.
HFI Executive Director Ana Christy Galura said that their company has always considered education and medical welfare of host communities.
HFI has conducted various CSR projects that included relief distribution, school bags and supplies handout, environment preservation projects.
Hann Resorts started as a small hotel in Clark with about 50 rooms at its Widus Hotel. It is now an integrated resort with casino and hospitality name brands like Swissotel and Marriott. It is also building a golf resort at New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.