Engineers lend aid, expertise
to school rebuilding projects in Philippine villages
By Carlos Bongioanni, Stars
and Stripes
Carlos Bongioanni / Stars and Stripes
Combat engineers PFC Michael Collins, right, and Cpl. Ryan Miller add a little muscle as
they bear down on a drill in Sapang Bato, Philipinnes. The troops are building a school as
part of a community relations project of Balikatan 2001. |
ANGELES CITY, Philippines — Ten years after Mount Pinatubo blew
its stack, dumping billions of tons of volcanic ash over three provinces of the
Philippines, residents are still trying to overcome its devastating effects.
The recuperation has been excruciatingly slow. But in recent weeks,
Filipinos in the communities surrounding the former Clark Air Base have seen progress.
U.S. military engineers and construction workers, part of a larger
contingent of troops in the Philippines for the two-week Balikatan 2001 exercise, have
teamed up with their Filipino counterparts to build and renovate several schools in the
area.
“I’m very happy … so grateful,” said Teresita
Sangab, an elementary school teacher who cannot stop praising the U.S. military for its
assistance. “My thanks goes up to heaven.”
Pointing to a building that has stood vacant for the past 10 years,
Sangab explained that the 1991 eruption cracked its main ceiling beam. The structure used
to serve as the home economics building. “It’s the first time since Pinatubo
erupted, that it has been renovated,” she noted.
As Sangab and other teachers watched the work, Marines and Army
personnel were slicing through metal panels with skill saws and cutting through concrete
walls with high-powered drills. Besides renovating the school’s former home economics
building, they erected a prefabricated structure to house four additional classrooms for
the school.
“To my knowledge, this is the first time our platoon has ever
gone out on a humanitarian mission of this sort,” said 2nd Lt. Dev Spradlin.
“We’re combat engineers. My Marines are more geared towards
infantry and demolition,” added Spradlin, a platoon commander from a combat engineer
company based at Camp Schwab, Okinawa.
In Okinawa, Spradlin’s unit does very little construction work.
“We’re normally blowing things up in the field,” said Private 1st Class
Michael Collins.
The change in venue and tasks has been rewarding for the unit.
“The best part of the whole day is seeing all the kids come by
waving at you and seeing them smile. It’s awesome,” Private 1st Class Michael
Collins said.
Carlos Bongioanni / Stars and Stripes
U.S. Army Specialists Melissa Della and Curtis Sakauye from the 411th Engineering
Battalion, Fort Shafter, Hawaii, put up metal sheets of siding on a school house in Sapang
Bato, where U.S. and Philippine forces are completing a community relations project as
part of Balikatan 2001. |
Before joining his current unit in Okinawa, Cpl. Ryan Miller had been
on two other humanitarian missions to Bolivia and Nicaragua where he was involved in
similar school building projects. He said the effort always brings great satisfaction.
“It’s a good feeling knowing I built something that will
help future generations of school kids,” Miller said.
Military engineers have been building schools at four sites during
Balikatan 2001. The U.S. government has picked up the cost of materials, said Lt. Col.
Daniel Peters, engineer civic-action project task-force commander. Peters is based in Fort
Shafter, Hawaii.
Peters said the effort is conducted “shoulder to shoulder”
with Philippines’ military engineers. His Philippine Air Force counterpart, Maj.
Dante Dalupang, said his troops derive substantial benefits from working with the U.S.
engineers because they learn new techniques and methods of construction, and they have a
chance to work with state-of-the-art equipment.
Peters and Dalupang met with schoolteachers Saturday, who commended
them for the work. And while they appreciated the new building and the renovations, the
teachers told the officials that the new building would need to be furnished, too.
“The building is good,” said Sangab. “But it has to
have desks and chairs and tables and blackboards. If we ask the Philippine government for
these things, it will take years, maybe never, to get them. You must help us,” she
said taking Peters’ hand.
Peters assured her that he would forward her request to the proper
channels to see what the U.S. government could do.
RELATED BALIKATAN 2001 STORY:
U.S., Filipino paratroops work
together during Balikatan exercises
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