Kabankalanon civil engineer Giel Rex Besas set out to design just one makeshift classroom for a storm-damaged school. But that effort has since expanded into a proposed seven-classroom building to help restore Don Benito Lopez Elementary School in Hacienda Antolanga, Barangay Tinongan, Isabela town.
Besas said he drafted the design for one lightweight makeshift classroom after seeing how Typhoon Tino had almost wiped out the school. But when he presented the plan, potential sponsors showed interest — and their response changed everything.
The entire effort began with a single scroll on his phone.
A heaviness settled on Besas when he saw the photos and videos the school posted online: walls torn apart, roofs collapsed, books soaked in mud, and classrooms left silent after the storm.
“I saw the post and the damage felt overwhelming,” he said. “Many people wanted to help, but there was no direction on what exactly was needed,” he told Brigada News FM Philippines on Friday, November 21.
In the comment section, people offered plywood, cement, and nails — whatever they could spare. But no one knew what the school truly needed.
“As a civil engineer, I realized they needed direction more than materials,” he said. “They needed proper plans, estimates, and safe designs — that’s what I could give.”
Before finalizing the proposed plan, Besas joined other volunteers to distribute relief goods. But he soon understood that his real contribution lay in rebuilding the learning spaces the children had lost.
“Many have given food and supplies,” he said. “But when it comes to construction, that’s where we can truly create long-term impact. We can’t help everyone, but we will do what we can.”
Networking
He drafted the design for one makeshift classroom, and from there, Hope Builders Organization Negros Island Inc. (HBONI) and 99.7 Brigada News FM Kabankalan partnered with him.
HBONI immediately mobilized community support and began coordinating resources. Through its Neg50s relief and rebuilding initiative, HBONI tapped partners for manpower and logistics.
The initial estimate for a single classroom reached nearly P200,000 — until one of Besas’ construction suppliers volunteered to shoulder all material costs.
That breakthrough alone could have completed the single-room project. But when a potential sponsor reviewed the plan, they encouraged Besas to aim higher and redesign it into a combined seven-classroom building.
Only the labor cost remains to be raised for the initial phase as Besas refines the expanded design and secures additional partners.
HBONI said the effort shows what communities can accomplish when ordinary people step forward, even when institutional help arrives slowly.
“When government help is delayed or insufficient, it is the people’s initiative that keeps communities moving, because learning and recovery cannot be put on hold — especially in a nation where even leaders are fighting their own battles,” HBONI said.
A school nearly erased
For school head Warren Geronca, the possibility of rebuilding seven classrooms offers renewed hope.
“Ninety percent of our campus was destroyed,” he said. “Seven classrooms were wiped out, along with our fences, our principal’s office, and even all our records.”
Geronca said Besas reached out before anyone asked him to.
“He came to us with initiative and sincerity,” he said. “Because of him, our first makeshift classroom is already becoming real. We hope more partners will join so we can rebuild the rest.”
To Besas, helping the school feels like giving back to the classrooms that shaped him.
“If the children aren’t properly educated now, what kind of nation will we have?” he said. “We all came from small classrooms like these. Without education, many of us wouldn’t have the skills to be useful in our communities. Worse, we might even end up causing harm rather than good.”
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, maintains a personal blog on Medium, and is the communications officer of Hope Builders Organization Negros Island.