Science high school to rise on Irisan property

THE Philippine Science High School Cordillera Administrative Region (PSHS-CAR) Campus recently held its groundbreaking ceremony on its permanent site at a 1.5-hectare land situated in Irisan.

An Igorot ritual of animal sacrifice was performed by Mayor Mauricio Domogan for prosperity and abundance of the structures to be built and the people who will use it.

The time capsule was laid at the cornerstone of the building by lone district Representative Bernardo Vergara, Mayor Domogan, PSHS System Executive Director Dr. Josette Biyo and PSHS-CAR Campus Director Dr. Conrado Rotor.

Biyo said the capsule laying is an important part of the groundbreaking ceremony where communications for the succeeding generations are buried and will be opened in the future.

Since the start of its operation in School Year 2009-2010, PSHS-CAR has been occupying a portion of Baguio City National High School Annex in San Vicente Barangay.

However, growing student population made the school administration pursue its search for a permanent site for their campus here.

The City Government in the past few months has occupied a portion of the lot specified for the PSHS campus as its temporary sorting and staging facility for its wastes but this was later moved to an adjacent lot to give way for the construction of the campus in the area.

Similar to the situation of PSHS-Central Luzon campus, the search for PSHS-CARC’s permanent site took almost three years due to Indigenous People’s ancestral domain rights battles inhabiting the first proposed site.

Finally, by the end of 2011, PSHS succeeded in forging a Usufruct Agreement with the Department of Education and the Department of Science and Technology for the use of a portion of the 3.7-hectare lot in Irisan.

The architectural design and physical plan of the PSHS-CAR campus are voluntary works of PSHS Alumni Batch 1989 composed of Architect Vladimir Longid, Architect Patrick Andrew Gozon, Architect Leonard Ilano and Landscape Architect Rodrigo Marquez as a gratitude to their school.

Joining their team are Architect Alan Urbanozo and Engineer Daniel Peckley.

The first phase of the construction started on August 10, 2012, the day after the Groundbreaking Ceremony, and is expected to be completed before the start of School Year 2013-2014.