By MERLINDA A. PEDROSA

Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya has assured parents that the city government will provide free school supplies to late enrollees from various public elementary and secondary schools in the city.

“We will coordinate with [the Department of Education in Bacolod] to determine the total number of late enrollees, as most of them were not included in the estimated number of recipients for the free school supplies,” Gasataya said during the distribution of free school supplies at the opening of classes yesterday.

He said he was informed that there were late enrollees.

The mayor said all school supplies and bags had already been delivered to at least 72 public elementary and secondary schools, benefiting approximately 113,000 students.

The city government would provide additional school supplies for these students.

The supplies include notebooks, writing pads, ballpens, pencils, sharpeners, custom backpacks, sling bags, and one set of physical education (PE) uniforms.

Pupils from Kindergarten to Grade 6 received free school supplies and bags, while students from Grades 7 to 12 also received school bags and PE uniforms.

Gasataya said the city government hopes to complete the distribution of free school supplies within the next few days.

The city government has allocated P90 million from the Special Education Fund for the implementation of the program.

In 2016, the city council approved an ordinance providing free educational materials to all students in public elementary schools in the city.

This year, the city also included Grade 7 to Grade 12 students in the program, granting them free school bags and PE uniforms only./MAP, WDJ