The Manila Times

North Davao architects help fabricate chairs

AR. ERICSON P. EUROPA

THE shortage of school facilities has been a perennial problem of our public schools all over the country. Every year, as student enrolments grow, so does the need for more school furniture, particularly school chairs.

Twelve years ago, then-mayor Rey Uy of Tagum City found a solution to help address this problem during his term from 2004 to 2013. In February 2011, then-president Benigno Aquino 3rd declared a moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of forest timber. This resulted in the massive confiscation of illegally cut trees across the country, particularly in Mindanao.

With the considerable number of confiscated logs in its storage yards, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Region 11 decided to donate them to the local government unit of Tagum City to put them to good use. Uy then ordered the fabrication of school chairs from these logs.

Since then, the Fabrication Section of the Construction and Maintenance Division of the city’s Engineering Department became the center of production. It facilitated the processing of illegal logs to be used for producing school chairs. This led to the formation of the Care for School Chairs Program of Tagum City.

Through the efforts of the entire working force of the Tagum City government and of several volunteers, the program was able to produce 91,197 pieces of furniture in 22 months, from August 2011 until Uy’s full term ended in May 2013.

These pieces of furniture were not solely for Tagum City schools to use, but were also donated to schools in other parts of Mindanao, as well as the Visayas and Luzon.

Uy’s return as mayor in 2022 paved the way for the program’s resurgence. Like before, volunteers from different groups, like civil society organizations, government line agencies, private companies, civic clubs and professional associations, came to offer their time and effort to help in producing school chairs.

On Feb. 25, 2023, members of the North Davao Chapter of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), headed by chapter president Oliver Abatol, reported to the Tagum City Motorpool to do their part for the bayanihan effort.

About 20 member-architects of the chapter rolled up their sleeves to perform the task assigned to them by Allan Canonigo, the Fabrication Section head, which was sanding the newly assembled chairs.

Each architect was assigned one chair to sand, and spent several hours making sure it was totally smooth and ready to be painted. As they experienced the pain in their hands as a result of the activity, the architects realized that the modest school chair used by students inside the classroom is not just a mere piece of furniture after all. The job of producing such a chair is, indeed, very arduous.

“The experience was humbling and fulfilling at the same time — getting to know the pains and effort poured out to make each and every school chair. The architects of UAP North Davao are happy to be given the opportunity to help the Local Government of Tagum City in the fabrication of school chairs provided to the public schools,” Abatol said of his chapter’s recent endeavor.

The undertaking was in line with the UAP’s Renato Heray – Bayanihang Arkitektura program for the fiscal year 2022–2023, with the theme “NGITI Para sa Eskwelahang Munti.” It encourages every chapter, as part of its annual corporate social responsibility projects, to perform noble deeds that would benefit students in support of the organization’s nation-building effort.

Ar. Ericson P. Europa, FUAP, PIEP, Nampap, is the editor in chief of The UAP Post, the official news publication of the United Architects of the Philippines. He finished his BS Architecture degree at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He is currently the university architect and director of the Physical Development Division of the University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City.

Build & Design

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2023-03-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/282016151581192

The Manila Times