February 15, 2022
Dear Mila,
Greetings from beloved Infanta!
We received the communication you sent which Fr. Francis Lukas personally handed to us. Thank you for sharing with us the Silver Jubilee magazine which documents the wonderful 25-year journey of Metro Infanta Foundation. The years traversed by MIF from its rather modest beginnings as a charitable project for the benefit of a few people from Infanta and its growth into a global foundation are truly years of grace deserving of gratitude to God and to all those who made it into what it is now. We are united with you in honoring the memory of a well-loved Carmelite shepherd of Infanta and a great servant-leader of the Church in the Philippines through the creation of the Bishop Julio X. Labayen Memorial Grant. Our congratulations and appreciation for this gesture of gratitude and homage.
Mount Carmel School of Infanta, too, has been a fortunate recipient of your assistance for many years now, and we are grateful for the continuing support of your Foundation to our students. The number of those who have approached us for scholarship has increased especially these past two years due to the adverse effect of pandemic on the family finances. We had tried to accommodate them all by adjusting the allotment of the available scholarship funds among them.
As a member school of the Catholic Association of Schools of the Prelature of Infanta (CASPI) and since our financial budget this school year could allow it, we were able to give our financial contribution for the construction of the Saint Joseph Formation House, one of your Jubilee funding goals; and we also extended our monetary share to the Prelature of Infanta. In this regard, we regret that it will only be in the near future that MCSI will be able to take part in MIF’s funding objectives, in support of the ministries you are espousing.
Presently, in view of the MCSI re-certification scheduled in 2023, there are structural repairs and constructions going on in the school, upon recommendation of the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC) which is responsible for granting certification to private schools in order to qualify for the government subsidy. The current improvements in the classrooms, offices, and laboratories, favored by the absence of the student population, are also in preparation for the eventual but gradual in-person class instruction and/or blended mode of teaching and for the forthcoming MCSI 60th Foundation Anniversary celebration on July 16, 2022. We shall be sending you the invitation for this event.
The School Year 2021-2022 will end in May and most likely, the opening of the new one will be in August 2022. Our MCSI faculty, even with the limitations imposed by our current global crises, have tried their best to give what the students deserve through online and modular classes: academic discussions, performance tasks and virtual immersions; religious celebrations and spiritual sessions (recollections); games and quiz contests, wellness activities; home visits for guidance and counselling; remedial classes and interventions for those in need; webinars, conferences and spiritual enrichment for teachers; orientation / consultations with parents/guardians (face-to-face or group chats).
It is unfortunate that due to the brunt of the pandemic, around 440 private schools in the country suspended operations this year and a good number suffered a decrease in enrollment. In our case, although we lost some students in the Grade School and Junior High, luckily, our total enrollment increased this year with 50 additional students in Senior High School. God has been good to us …to have kept MCSI going till now @60.
Again, our gratitude to you and MIF and …. MABUHAY! May the Lord make use of your ministry and ours to spread His Kingdom of Justice and Peace, Unity and Love in the world, remembering Ukraine in a special way. Please also pray much for our country and people especially for wise, honest, and peaceful national elections in MAY.
Happy Valentine’s Day,
JANE (Jing) Florencondia and Lucina MARGIE Recio
