Baluarte Elementary School
100 years of molding the minds of Ilonggo youth and counting…

Last March 1, 2005 the faculty, staff and students of Baluarte Elementary School in Molo , Iloilo City celebrated the 132 nd birth anniversary of its founder Don Rosendo M. Mejica .

Baluarte Elementary School - Then

Relatedly , the first public elementary school in the country is celebrating its centennial this year. It was 100 years ago when Mejica established Baluarte Elementary School .  

After working for big firms in Bacolod , Mejica returned to Iloilo in 1905 to establish a school for the children of his community.

To raise money for the school, he organized the residents into an association called “ Mga Baybayanon (coastal dwellers).” The association mobilized the civic spirit of the people of Molo who contributed money and labor to construct the school.

This was the first public school building put up in the Philippines under the American regime. The government did not start building schools until after the passage of the Gabaldon Act in 1907.

The “ nipa ” school started with an enrollment of 65 pupils, including some old folks.

In 1910, Mejica wrote a letter to the Municipal Council of Iloilo to purchase a lot for the school and for this purpose he donated fifty pesos.

The petition was granted . In a Municipal Council ordinance No. 241, dated Aug. 15, 1910 , the Council agreed to buy lots to be used as school site.

Part of the ordinance stated:   “Sa ubus matalastas sang Konseho ang sulat ni Ginoong Mejica , sang ika 9 sa Agosto 1910, nga naga-panugyan nga baklun ang isa ka puna nga duta sa dalan Antigua, nayun sa baybay sang Parian , nga maayo bulugsukan sing isa ka eskuelahan ...” (In response to the letter of Mr. Mejica to the Council, dated August 9, 1910, the Council recommends the purchase of the lot to be used by the school.)

Baluarte Elementary School - Now

The ordinance added that the council formed a committee headed by President Abeto and City Council members Locsin and Hervias to facilitate the purchase of the lot for educational purpose.   

The original owners of the lot sold their properties at very low prices.

From then on, the lot became the haven of education for the Ilonggos .

Since then Baluarte Elementary School transformed and grew into a bigger school accommodating more pupils not only from Molo but from other places.

Notably, Baluarte Elementary School has already produced a lot of famous and distinguished people, among them Senate President Franklin Drilon and the late Senator Rodolfo Ganzon.