Oldest School Buildings in Cagayan de Oro

It’s back to school and students are excited to wear their new clothes, bags, and shoes while some students excited to meet their new classmates and friends.

Typical Gabaldon School Building design.

Did you know that Cagayan de Oro has two (2) Gabaldon School Buildings that was built between 1907-1915 and until now these buildings are still used as one of the classrooms of the schools and there are two known Gabaldon School Buildings.  One is the Cagayan de Oro City Central School and the Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School (MOGCHS) Admin Building.  The CDO City Central School followed the typical Gabaldon modular design while that of the MOGCHS Admin Building was unique. Currently the MOGCHS Admin building is undergoing restoration works.

Restoration of MOGCHS Building

Let’s go back some Cagayan de Oro history of these building.

Act No. 1801 also known as Assemblyman Isauro Gabaldon of Nueva Ecija authored the Gabaldon Act in 1907.  It appropriated around 1 Million Pesos between 1907 to 1915 for the construction of school houses across the Philippine archipelago.  Most of these school buildings were designed by William Parsons, the Consulting Architect of the Bureau of Public Works (forerunner of the Department of Public Works and Highways).  He used modular designs to reduce the building cost. however some school buildings were designed differently.  His architectural style followed the classical lines yet he still respected the vernacular architecture, creating a design fit for the tropical climate of the Philippines.