Photo of a School Building under Construction in Balayan [July 1914, BPW Quarterly Bulletin]

This photograph is part of a series showing construction projects undertaken by the Bureau of Public Works during the American colonial era. All photographs have been digitally extracted from the Quarterly Bulletins of the bureau and processed using graphics editing software to improve quality. It goes without saying that the eventual output of each extract was always going to be dependent on the quality of the original scan.

The failure of the Spanish colonial government to set up a large-scale public educational system in the Philippines was something that the new American colonial government wanted to rectify. Setting up this system required the construction of public school buildings around the country, the task of which fell on the Bureau of Public Works.

In a 1914 report by the bureau, it was noted that “ten modern school buildings have been built in the various municipalities through the province [of Batangas] in addition to the high school building just mentioned [the Batangas Provincial High School].” These buildings were all constructed, with the exception of one, according to standard specifications for concrete school buildings.

The report further noted that there were then already standard buildings in Nasugbu, Balayan, Ibaan and Mataasnakahoy, at the time still a barrio of Lipa. Funds were also available for the construction of a school building in the town of Tuy.

Below, a photo of a school building in Balayan while still under construction:

¹ “Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin, Volume 2 No. 4,” compiiled by C.A. Tansill, published July 1914 in Manila by the Bureau of Public Works.