SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 11 September) — Seized “hot” logs that had been left in storage for years at the local environment office in Bunawan town have finally been put to good use as armchairs for public school classrooms.
This marks the second batch of armchairs distributed this year, with funding of ₱200,000 for labor and materials coming from the Special Education Fund. Last June, the local government delivered 135 armchairs to the San Francisco Pilot Central Elementary School and the Agusan del Sur National High School.
Mayor Grace Carmel Paredes-Bravo said in an interview on Wednesday that 24 cubic meters of mahogany logs, donated by the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office, were used to build 465 armchairs for 13 elementary and secondary schools in this town.
The project tapped the San Francisco Association of Differently Abled Persons (Safra Adap) Multi-Purpose Cooperative, which has been producing chairs for several years as part of its carpentry livelihood program in Barangay Pisaan.
The new armchairs were evenly distributed, with at least 25 units per classroom, to help address shortages in local schools.
Agusan del Sur, a landlocked province known for its vast tree farms, has long embraced the practice of converting confiscated logs into school furniture. The initiative dates back to the “Silya ni Gloria sa Eskwela” program of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, which first took root in the province.
In 2023 alone, the provincial government distributed 7,667 armchairs to 143 public schools across its 10 municipalities and Bayugan City.
These included 523 chairs for nine schools in Bunawan, 1,170 for 19 schools in Esperanza, 305 for six schools in La Paz, 460 for six schools in Loreto, 414 for six schools in Prosperidad, 241 for five schools in Rosario, 715 for 10 schools in San Francisco, 140 for seven schools in San Luis, 140 for three schools in Sibagat, and 80 for two schools in Sta. Josefa.
Talacogon received 395 chairs for nine schools, Trento got 1,395 for 18 schools, Veruela had 45 for one school, and Bayugan City benefited the most with 1,420 chairs for 42 schools.
Despite these efforts, the need remains pressing. Data show that Agusan del Sur schools require 207,232 classroom chairs across all grade levels. With only 183,764 available, and 7,667 new chairs delivered in 2023, the province still faces a shortfall of 15,801 units. (Chris V. Panganiban/MindaNews)
