Philippine bishops, priests urged to use chapels as classrooms

ucanews.com reporter, Manila

Children play at a temporary classroom in the village of Abucay in Tacloban City (File photo by Vincent Go)

The social action arm of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines urged bishops and priests in disaster areas to offer chapels to be used as temporary >

I think the Lord would even be glad if His house will be used in helping others, said Fr Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the National Secretariat for Social Action and Caritas-Philippines.

The Lord is always about mercy and compassion, he said in an interview, admitting that using the chapels as >

Gariguez said he doubts if the number of chapels would be able to accommodate a big number of children. He said Catholic chapels, especially in villages, are usually small and it's not that many .

In Bataan province, north of Manila, some 170 schoolchildren in Bayan-bayanan village have been holding >

Gariguez suggested that temporary >

Data obtained from the Department of Education shows that the country is short 67,849 >

As of April 2015, the government was only able to finish building 7,062 >

This low completion rate in >

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), meanwhile, assured parents that the security and safety of students remains one of the top priorities of Church-run institutions in the country. 

Our schools are generally compliant with the accepted standards of safety in our infrastructures, said Anthony Coloma, CEAP spokesman.

The association counts 1,252 member Catholic universities and colleges around the country, many of which are mission schools offering basic education to poor communities.