Historical Milestone of De La Salle John Bosco College

Every passing phase of life brings something to remember. As De La Salle John Bosco College embarks into a new stage of its development, it is essential that we look back to where the school came from and remember the events that helped shape it so that we can better understand and appreciate the status it has achieved and the direction towards which it is going.

Blazing the Trails

What JBC is today, we owe much to the dream of a few visionaries who aspired to uplift the human condition of the Bisliganons. They were the men and women who blazed the trails by putting up a school that has made a difference in this remote part of Mindanao.

What is this dream and how did it prosper? In the mid 50’s the Bislig Bay Elementary School was established exclusively for the company dependents of Bislig Bay Lumber Incorporated – the forerunner of the Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines. Its establishment was part of the late Don Andres Soriano’s vision of putting up companies and providing the best facilities for their employees. The founding of the Bislig Bay Elementary School is significant to John Bosco College because it served as a bridge to the establishment of the first Catholic school envisioned to offer quality Christian education.

 

In 1961, the company turned over the management of the school to Fr. Alberto Grol, then parish priest of Mangagoy, after getting the permission of Msgr. Charles Van den Ouwelant. He converted Bislig Bay Elementary School into a parochial school that allowed access of non-company dependents.

Later on, the Augustinian Recollect Missionary Sisters (ARM) took over the management of the school and in 1962-63 the name, St. Margaret Mary School, was adopted. The school answered the need for a Catholic elementary school for girls. But Father Grol wanted more than just a school for girls. He envisioned the establishment of a boys’ high school. With the Bishop’s blessing, he made representations with Don Andres Soriano for financial assistance. About the same time, the Salesian Fathers planned to open a technical school in Mindanao, preferably in Davao, patterned after the Don Bosco School in Mandaluyong.

Don Andres Soriano, the great philanthropist that he was, readily gave in to the idea on condition the proposed boys’ high school be put up in Mangagoy where the Bislig Bay Lumber Company Incorporated of the Andres Soriano Corporation was located. Negotiations went fast between the parish priest and the Salesian Fathers agreed to manage the school and the company committed to subsidize the school’s operation.

In 1964, four teachers from Don Bosco, Mandaluyong composed the pioneer teaching staff of the school which was named St. John Bosco Technical High School. Father Grol was later replaced by Father Henry Raam, MSC, under whom the school became the recipient of the United Nations’ “Tools for Freedom.” In that same year, St. Margaret Mary School was granted recognition to open the first year level in high school.
 
In 1967, St. John Bosco Technical High School and St. Margaret Mary School had their first high school graduates. The following year, in 1968, the contract of the ARM Sisters to run the St. Margaret Mary School expired. The members of the school board decided to invite the Maryknoll Sisters to manage the school.

In 1969, St. John Bosco Technical High School and St. Margaret Mary School finally merged under the name John Bosco School making the school a co-ed institution. Sister Blaise Lupo took over the directorship in 1970.

Four years later in 1974, JMS-Learning Center, a La Salle supervised school was made operational at FDV1, Coleto, Bislig – 13 Kilometers from the company mill site. The school was established for children of PICOP employees residing in Forest Drive Village. Br. Thomas Cannon FSC was the first De La Salle Brother Supervisor of the school.

 

In 1977, the last batch of the Maryknoll Sisters left Bislig and the administration and supervision of the school was turned over to the De La Salle Brothers. Br. Tom Cannon remained the supervisor, Br. Leonardo Sicat was the guidance counselor and Mr. Manuel Fabella was assigned the firs lay director of the school.

In 1978, the Technical Department was opened replacing the Vocational Department in order to meet the increasing demand of PICOP for skilled workers.

Year 1982 was a very significant year. The merger of JBS in Mangagoy and JMS-Learning Center in FDV took place. It became one school – John Bosco School with two campuses – the main campus in Mangagoy and the JMS campus in Coleto. It was Br. Mifrando Obach FSC, the Brother Supervisor at that time, who moved for the merger of two schools. Mrs. Ophelia S. Fugoso already serving as acting school director of JBS in Mangagoy handled both campuses.

In 1986, the Technical/Vocational Department was phased out. PICOP was no longer in need of skilled workers so it found subsidizing the department no longer relevant.

Besides Brother Tom and Brother Mif, three other La Salle Brothers have served as Brother Supervisor of the school – Br. Martin Simpson FSC, Br. Robert Schieler FSC and the present Supervisor, Br. Narciso Erguiza Jr. FSC. Under the supervision of the Da La Salle Brothers, more innovations in enhancing educational endeavors have been pursued.

Year 1997 was very crucial for John Bosco School. Despite a difficult setback in its financies, it opened the College Department and re-opened the two-year Technical/Vocational courses. The following Programs are offered at the tertiary level: Teacher Education, Liberal Arts, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Bachelor of Science in Office Administration, Bachelor of Science in Information echnology and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. The name John Bosco School was changed into John Bosco College. For almost en years, the school bears the same name. We salute the significant people who beat the trails to ensure that DLSJBC will become what it is today.

Hurdling the Trials

Sustaining DLSJBC through the years was no easy task. To survive, there were mergers undertaken, departments phased out, new ventures resorted to. The greatest blow for JBC came when PICOP decided to withdraw its financial support for the school in 1997. The JBC community, however, remained undaunted by the trials and held on strongly to its faith that it could still carry on despite the odds. So true it is that if we lose one thing, we gain another in return. JBC may have lost the company’s financial support but it gained something in the process- the development of its stronger inner resources which came in the form of a much more cohesive community with a firm resolve to work collaboratively to keep JBC stay afloat. Indeed, the school was able to move on.

Celebrating the Triumphs

And not only did JBC move on after the setback. It reached even greater heights. The Grade School and High School Departments have passed Level II PAASCU re-accreditations. The College Department was established and new programs continue to expand. TESDA has designated JBC as Trade Testing Center of Surigao del Sur.

Major constructions and physical facilities improvement have been undertaken – the gym renovation, parking area concreting and the construction of the Saint John Baptist de La Salle (SJBDLS) Building among others. Two computer laboratories for TVET and high school students were added to the existing grade school and college computer laboratories. The Faculty Dorm II was converted into a pension house to serve as training laboratory of the Hotel and Restaurant Management students.
To date, De La Salle John Bosco College boasts of numerable scores of alumni who are occupying top administrative positions in both the public and private institutions in the country and even abroad. These and many more tangible and intangible triumphs have inspired the school community to strive harder to reach is vision/mission.

Looking back, we find that through it all, there must be a providential hand that guided DLSJBC to its success. There must be that Spirit that helped the school community work great miracles, move mountains and break down barriers. At present, we feel that the same Spirit is guiding us to make old things new as we venture into a novel experience – the greatest milestone the school the school has ever reached so far – that of JBC’s turning into the 18th La Salle District School.

Las February 9, 2007, JBC was accepted as De La Salle John Bosco College together with the installation of its first lay President.