The ground-breaking ceremony held for a new building of PSD in Mesaimeer yesterday
By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter

Philippine ambassador to Qatar, Crescente Relacion, has thanked Qatari authorities for granting land for the construction of a permanent building for the Philippines School Doha (PSD).
The envoy lauded the government initiative yesterday at the ground breaking ceremony of the new building in Mesaimeer.
Relacion said that it was during the visit of former Philippines president Maria Gloria Macapagel Arroyo to Qatar in 2008 that the move to get land for the school complex received a momentum.
The ambassador said the growing educational requirements of the children of the community members would be met in a more efficient and effective manner once the school moved to its own complex in Mesaimeer.
The land was allotted to the school more than three months ago. Close to 14,370sq m of land has been given for the purpose.
At the formal ground-breaking declaration ceremony, scores of the Filipino community members turned up. Fr Zacharias Parra, a priest at the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Rosary, Henedina Sampang, representing Evangelist groups in the country’s Philippines expatriate group and Mohamed Tubello blessed the event.
Later, school officials expressed the hope that they could move to the new building in about two years from now. They hope to generate funds from within the community members.
Currently the school, functioning in a rented complex in Madinat Khalifa, has more than 2,560 students. The 200,000-strong community runs three schools, of which the PSD is said to be the largest.
Earlier school principal Alexander Acosta welcomed the gathering and chairman Gerardo Macasa Jr read out the ground-breaking declaration.
Ruby Socorro Santander, another board member, led the roll call of the
participants.
At the digging ceremony, which was led by Relacion, board trustee Macasa Jr, school principal Acosts, founding president Edgar Bondoc,, founding community volunteer Fredoline Aguinaldo, founding faculty member Aida Mendez, Parent-Teacher Association president Edgar Tuquib, and staff council member Jean Paul Carandang participated along with a Ministry of Interior (MoI) official.
Besides the ambassador, Philippines embassy officials consul Jabbar Adiong, vice counsel Gilbert Segarra, overseas labour officer Arturo Sodusta, assistant labour attaché Violeta Illesca, and welfare officer Danilo Flores were among others present.