BLANCH Marie Luage and Hyacinth Mari Ditan, Grade 6 students of Labangon Elementary School, share the same passion in reading. The two are best friends and are vying for honors in their graduating class.

Luage and Ditan believe that reading empowers them, activates their imagination and transports them to different places they read about.

The early Christmas gifts of the Visayan Electric Company Inc (Veco) and the Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (AFI) to the Labangon Elementary School will make reading and learning all the more exciting for students like Luage and Ditan. Last Dec. 4, Veco and AFI officially turned over to the school a newly-built e-learning center.

Veco and AFI transformed an old container van donated by the Gothong Southern Shipping Lines into a learning space equipped with iPads, an Apple TV and a 50-inch LED TV. The school also provided books as their counterpart for the project. The e-learning center is strategically located under the trees so students can enjoy the fresh air while studying.

Veco chief operating officer Anton Mari Perdices urged students and the school administration to fully utilize the facility and use it to improve the performance of the students.

Cebu City Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Bianito Dagatan, meanwhile, thanked Veco for always being a partner in improving the education system in the country. He also challenged the students and the school administration to use the tools given by Veco and AFI to improve their academic performance.

The e-learning center is Veco’s third project at the Labangon Elementary School. In 2010, Veco donated a three-story, three-classroom building. In 2017, Veco also upgraded the electrical wiring of the school.

The center is the second e-learning center that Veco and AFI created for DepEd. In 2016, Veco and AFI also donated an e-learning center to the Mabolo Elementary School.