Setelah serangan Topan Sendong pada bulan Desember 2011, Pilmico dan organisasi mitranya mulai membangun gedung sekolah dengan 24 ruang kelas di lokasi Relokasi Desa Bayanihan di Santa Elena, Iligan City pada tahun 2012. Pilmico secara resmi menyerahkan gedung sekolah, yang kini bernama Sekolah Menengah Nasional Tomas Cabili, kepada Departemen Pendidikan setempat pada bulan Agustus 2013.
Fasilitas senilai 25 juta dolar AS ini merupakan proyek Tanggung Jawab Sosial Perusahaan terbesar Pilmico hingga saat ini.
Sejak diluncurkan, Sekolah Menengah Nasional Tomas Cabili telah mengalami peningkatan 200% dalam jumlah siswa. Hampir lima tahun berlalu, Santa Elena kini menjadi komunitas yang ramai dengan para penyintas Topan Sendong. Yang lebih penting lagi, anak-anak sangat senang bisa kembali ke sekolah.
Rebecco Omlero, Kepala Sekolah dari Sekolah Menengah Nasional Tomas Cabili berbagi:
Kami merasa sangat beruntung tidak hanya untuk para guru tetapi juga untuk anak-anak dan orang tua. Kami memiliki kesempatan besar untuk menerima sumbangan yang begitu besar. Terima kasih banyak, terima kasih banyak kepada semua pihak.
Pertanyaan yang Sering Diajukan
What does the Tomas Cabili National High School project reveal about Pilmico’s long-term view of community investment?
The willingness to commit PHP 25 million to a single school building — and then to report on it five years later — reflects a long-term view of CSR that extends well beyond program cycles. Rather than measuring success at the point of turnover, Pilmico’s follow-up report implicitly acknowledges accountability for the school’s ongoing performance. This longitudinal perspective distinguishes the project from transactional philanthropy and positions it as a genuine community partnership with a lasting institutional commitment.
What was the origin story of the Tomas Cabili National High School?
The school was built as a direct response to Typhoon Sendong, which struck Iligan City in December 2011. Pilmico and its partner organizations began construction in 2012 on a 24-classroom building at the Bayanihan Village Relocation site in Santa Elena, Iligan City — a community established for survivors displaced by the typhoon. The building was formally turned over to the Department of Education in August 2013, with the school taking the name Tomas Cabili National High School.
What was the financial scale of this CSR investment?
The Tomas Cabili National High School represented a PHP 25 million investment — confirmed as Pilmico’s single largest Corporate Social Responsibility project to date at the time of this report. This scale reflects a deliberate decision to commit to a permanent, substantial community infrastructure asset rather than distributing the same funds across smaller, less impactful interventions. The decision to build a 24-classroom school is itself a statement about the intended long-term impact.
What measurable impact had the school achieved within five years of its launch?
Within approximately five years of opening, Tomas Cabili National High School had seen a 200% increase in its student population — a quantitative indicator of both the school’s acceptance by the community and the growth of the Santa Elena community itself. School Head Rebecco Omlero described the situation as fortunate for both teachers and students alike, expressing gratitude for the generous donation and the opportunity it created for the community’s children.
What was the broader community impact of the school beyond education?
The school’s construction and growth reflected the broader transformation of Santa Elena itself. Almost five years after Typhoon Sendong devastated the area, Santa Elena had evolved from a relocation site into what the article describes as a bustling community. The school was thus both a cause and a symbol of recovery — not merely a building, but an anchor institution that gave the community a reason to establish roots and invest in rebuilding settled, permanent lives.
