Laoag City—The city will soon have its own national science high school following the signing of the law creating it, Laoag vice mayor Michael V. Fariñas announced.
The vice mayor disclosed that President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the law creating the science high school in December last year.
He added that the Senate also approved the school’s name after Rodolfo C.G. Fariñas Jr., the late son of Rep. Rodolfo “Rudy” C. Fariñas (Ilocos Norte, 1st district).
The city government planned to place the science high school in front of Vira Elementary School near the bypass road. The school’s design will follow Philippine Science High School model.
Mr. Fariñas divulged further that the bidding for the project happened on December 27, 2017. He expressed hopes that construction will start soon.
The city government originally owns part of the 1.8-hectare lot for the school, they later purchased the rest of lot using the city’s School Board Fund.
The lot is the city government’s contribution for the school while the Dept. of Education will shoulder the funding for the construction of the school.
Mr. Fariñas also revealed that as per a text message from Rep. Fariñas, the master plan for the school includes a gymnasium and dormitories. The buildings and classrooms, he added, will have “21stcentury type” design.
He added, however, that with the inclusion of a gymnasium and dormitories, the city government will have to buy the surrounding lots on the proposed site to accommodate the addition.
He said the project has an initial budget of PHP102 million.
Rep. Fariñas authored the bill calling for the establishment of a Laoag City National Science High School.
The Laoag DepEd will oversee the school’s staff.
Earlier, the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) issued a certification approving the proposed site of the school.
The proposed Laoag science high school will be the second in Region I following the Philippine Science High School in San Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur.