Las Piñas Gabaldon Hall
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The Las Piñas Gabaldon Hall is an old school building in
Las Piñas Las Piñas (, officially the City of Las Piñas (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of ...
located in the campus of the Las Piñas Central Elementary School in
Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...
, Philippines. The name "Gabaldon schools" derives from a former
Nueva Ecija Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( ; ; ; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Palayan, while Cabanatuan, its former capital, is the largest Local gove ...
congressman, Isauro Gabaldon, who introduced a law in 1907 that appropriated funds for the construction of school buildings nationwide. When the Americans arrived in the 19th century, one of their primary goals was the establishment of the education system in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, and they created the Department of Education to accomplish this goal. The
American colonists The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of the Americas, European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen Colonies, Thirteen British Colonies a ...
used the institution of the educational system to teach the Filipinos how to speak English, making the transmission of American values easier. This was also done under the auspices of preparing the Philippines, then just emerging from the aftermath of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, for independence. One of the first delegations of American educators who rose to prominence in the Philippines arrived on a ship called the "Thomas," which is the reason that the American teachers became known as the
Thomasites The Thomasites were a group of 600 American teachers who traveled from the United States to the newly occupied territory of the Philippines on the USAT Thomas, US Army Transport ''Thomas''. The group included 346 men and 180 women, hailing from ...
.


History


Context of Gabaldon Schools in the Philippines

The Americans decided that more public schools must be provided to facilitate the institutional education of the Filipinos. There were already an existing 534 schools constructed by the Spaniards, and the Americans added 1000 more schools, a number that steadily grew in the first 10 years of American occupation. The adopted three kinds of school buildings: the barrio school, the municipal school, and high school buildings. Starting 1900s, they built sturdier schoolhouses that later became known as American Colonial Schools. American architect William E. Parsons was commissioned to develop prototype designs for the schoolhouses for both elementary and high school. There were twenty prototypes made that varied from one classroom to more than ten classrooms. In 1907, assemblyman Isauro Gabaldon allotted a budget of one million
peso The peso is the monetary unit of several Hispanophone, Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, as well as the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries of the Americas, the symbol com ...
s (sixty thousand dollars) for the construction of these prototypes all over the Philippines. These schools were later known as "Gabaldon Schools".


Description


Site

With the growth of population in Las Piñas, the demand for education also began rising. Starting out from a single Gabaldon school, the movement led to the construction of several buildings and facilities within the complex. The site includes multi-storey classroom buildings, a
health education Health education is a profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health, as well as sexual and r ...
building, guard houses, service areas, and additional offices, as well as an
athletic track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...
and a multi purpose hall.


Architectural characteristics

Reminiscent of the early years of the American occupation, Las Piñas Elementary School's Gabaldon Hall is one of the survivors of the city's rapid urbanisation. The Las Piñas Gabaldon Hall reflects a
neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...
style. This is observable in its U-shaped configuration, the series of concrete columns in the middle section, and the use of standardized G.I roofing. It belongs to one of the construction systems employed in Gabaldon Schools – the reinforced concrete built-in wall system. It has a medium aesthetic value; and medium state of originality. It also features high ceilings, and windows with capiz-shell panes. The roof reflects
Dutch gable roof A Dutch gable roof or gablet roof (in Britain) is a roof with a small gable at the top of a hip roof. The term Dutch gable is also used to mean a gable with parapets. Some sources refer to this as a gable-on-hip roof. A Dutch gable roof combine ...
design – similar to other types of Gabaldon schools. The windows are in sliding-type style, and the transom supplements ample lighting into the interior. The windows were made fixed and enclosed with
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...
grill works while the transoms (including wood framing and capiz shells) were painted along with the walls of the hall.


Present situation


Existing building conditions

The Las Piñas Gabaldon Hall integrated full
air-conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...
system to cater according to its new use as an office building. Also, the gap between the concrete foundations and the natural ground line were used into plant boxes. The aluminum lettering of "Division of City Schools Las Piñas City" were added at the front facade. Also, green
polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate ester, carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, toughness, tough materials, and some grades are optically transp ...
curved roofing were installed within the two entrances of the hall to provide shading. The exposed pipe systems are still present and functioning. The G.I roofing and gutters have been changed. The eaves, as well as the walls, received general painting works for aesthetic and functional improvement. The original extension walls were made out of wood and replaced with concrete at some time. Other replacements include fixed
jalousie A jalousie window (, ), louvred window (Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, United Kingdom), jalousie, or jalosy is a window composed of parallel glass, acrylic, or wooden louver, louvres set in a frame. The louvres are ...
s on the sides of the hall, new ceilings, fixed cement partitions (collapsible wooden partitions before), and clay and wood tiles.


Division of City Schools Las Piñas

The Division of City Schools, Las Piñas was established as one of the thirteen divisions of DECS – National Capital Region. It was formally opened on July 2, 1997, with the grant of cityhood to the former town of Las Piñas. Pursuant to Section 44 of the Las Piñas Charter, otherwise known as Republic Act No. 8251, the City Schools Division was officially created and was officially separated from the Division of
Parañaque Parañaque, officially the City of Parañaque (, ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...
– Las Piñas (PARLAS) during a formal turnover ceremony held on June 27, 1997. Maintaining the over-all administration and supervision of elementary and secondary or basic education at the division level is the promotional or supervisory staff headed by Ms. Virginia L. Peñafuerte as its City Schools Division Superintendent who is ably supported by Dr. Lourdes M. Victoriano as its Assistant Schools Division Superintendent.


Gallery

File:Basketball Court Las Piñas Elementary School Central.jpg, Basketball Court at Las Piñas Elementary School Central File:Canteen Las Piñas Elementary School Central.jpg, Canteen at Las Piñas Elementary School Central File:Front Facade Las Piñas Elementary School Central.jpg, Front Facade of Las Piñas Elementary School Central File:HE Building.jpg, HE Building at Las Piñas Elementary School Central File:Multi-Purpose Hall Las Piñas Elementary School Central.jpg, Multi-Purpose Hall of Las Piñas Elementary School Central File:Stage Las Piñas Elementary School Central.jpg, Stage at Las Piñas Elementary School Central File:Track Oval Las Piñas Elementary School Central.jpg, Track Oval at Las Piñas Elementary School Central File:Las_Piñas_Elementary_School_Special_Science_School_12.jpg, Las Piñas Elementary Special Science School - Alternative learning System and Training Center File:Las_Piñas_Elementary_School_Special_Science_School_01.jpg, Alternative learning System and Training Center Las Piñas Gabaldon Hall Division of City Schools Las Piñas


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Las Pinas Gabaldon Hall Buildings and structures in Las Piñas Educational structures in Metro Manila