WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008 [ www.gov.ph ]
TEACHERS CAMP, Baguio City – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inspected today (March 19, Holy Wednesday) the ongoing preservation and renovation works for the century-old Teachers Camp which celebrates its 100th founding anniversary on April 6, the day some 150 Thomasites first set up camp here in 1908.
The President, who was invited by Department of Education (Dep Ed) officials to grace the soft opening on April 6 of the month-long centennial celebration of the now Baguio Teachers Camp (BTC), advised DepEd to keep the rental rates competitive to generate more revenue.
She made the suggestion upon learning that DepEd wants the Teachers Camp to become “income-generating and self-sustaining” when the P100-million makeover project is completed.
The President toured the camp accompanied by Baguio City Rep. Mauricio Domogan (Lone District), Mayor Reynaldo Bautista, and Education Secretary Jesli Lapus. DepEd Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya, who gave a power-point briefing at the 53-year-old Abada Hall on the project, said that the “new” Teachers Camp would be “an ideal training and vacation haven for educators, students, government employees, and the public.”
Dubbed by DepEd as “Our Home by the Clouds,” the facility will have “well-equipped training and conference venues amidst a pristine garden setting with a mountain ambiance that can’t be found anywhere else in the country.”
Told that sometimes the Camp cannot accommodate all students attending DepEd seminars, the President urged DepEd officials to go back to the lodging origins of Teachers Camp when students pitched tents for the night, something that she said young students would love to experience.
She also proposed that Teachers Camp should serve as the venue of national competitions for teachers instead of searches for outstanding students, as she pointed out that the Teachers Camp has always been for teachers first and foremost.
The President also toured the nearby Benitez Hall, the Superintendent’s Quarters, and one of the 29 cottages within the camp – the Newton Gilbert Cottage named in honor of the Secretary of Public Instruction (March 1, 1909 – November 30, 1913).
Undergoing preservation are the “heritage structures” in the camp, including the Roxas Hall (1937) which was used by pre-war cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).
The Teachers Camp grand centennial celebration will be held on May 10, the end of the first Teachers Vacation Assembly held by the Thomasites, the American teachers who arrived in the Philippines in the early 20th century to instruct Filipinos on the English language and American culture.
_________________________________________________________________________
