RIYADH, 12 November 2004 — From a high of 19 Filipino groups, only six have remained committed to donate classrooms to public school children under the “Classroom, Galing sa Mamamayang Pilipino Abroad” (CGMA) program of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

These groups include the Union of Filipino Community Leaders (UNCLE), United OFW, Order of the Knights of Rizal, Bicol Federation, Bicol Saro nin Riyadh and the OFW Congress.

“They have lined up fund-raising activities at the Philippine Embassy to fulfill their commitment,” Labor Attaché Manuel “Dodong” Roldan told Arab News on Monday.

To pursue its commitment, UNCLE is launching a dance contest so that while providing entertainment to the community, it would also give participants and viewers a chance to share their blessings with schoolchildren in poor communities in the Philippines.

Cesar Saavedra, secretary-general of the civic group, said the “Ballroom and Modern Dancing Competition-Pasiklaban 2004” will be held on Nov. 19, Dec. 17, Jan. 20 and Jan. 21 (grand finals).

The United OFW will also hold a fund-raising project on Dec. 3, the Riyadh Artists Guild International on Dec. 9, and the Bicol Federation on Dec. 17.

When asked why many groups have backed out, a staff at the Labor office said that some of the leaders who pledged have left the Kingdom and the others have simply lost interest in the project.

“Some also backed out because they don’t support President Arroyo,” another said.

Labor Undersecretary Danny P. Cruz had explained during the program’s launch at the Philippine Embassy last year that while the program was named after President Arroyo, the beneficiaries are Filipino children in poor communities.

The Department of Education has said some 50,000 schoolrooms are badly needed across the Philippine archipelago.

Cruz said the CGMA hopes to construct 10,000 classrooms initially for those communities that need them badly.

Many other Filipino community organizations in other parts of the world have also pledged to sponsor at least one classroom, which costs 200,000 pesos, much lower than the cost required by the graft-ridden Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The donors could select any school in any part of the country as their beneficiary, although OFWs in the US who pledged did not make any particular school as their beneficiary.

Every schoolroom to be constructed would be matched by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the lead agency for the project.

The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is the trust administrator while the Central bank (CB) would be the accounting arm.

Construction of the schoolrooms will be done by the Federation of Filipino Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FFCCCI), which had itself donated thousands of school buildings in depressed villages over the past decades.