Our History
An institution has a peculiar existence which is believed to pass through the leaps and bound of its traversing experience. Anahawan National High School can attest to that. Opened on July 1968 with the pioneering teacher, Miss Rosalina Alemania (now Mrs. Rosalina A. Salazar), she first held her classes at the residence of the civic-minded person of the late Mr. Dionesio Butlig Sr. where the first floor was said to be vacant. The opening of high school was under the stewardship of Mr. Domingo Sagrado, the principal of Anahawan Community School last 1968. It was first called as Anahawan Rural High School where salaries of the teachers were taken from the tuition fee of students.
On the second and third years of its existence, another benevolent person identified as the late Mr. Eleuterio Cajes offered to have his extra house just fronting the Anahawan Community School gate to be used for instructional purposes. The following year, classes in the fourth year were held in Anahawan Community School where said room was free from elementary classes.
Later, the school was renamed as Anahawan Barrio High School. Teachers were additionally hired on 1969 onwards. To name a few we had Mr. Godofredo Briones (now deceased) and Miss Sulpicia Gerongco from 1972-1974. Hitherto, Mrs. Corazon C. Tosoy is the one left serving the school among the pioneering teachers. Enrolment of this school has continued to rise from year to year.
On the year 1987, efforts to acquire its present high school site were then initiated by Hon. Alfredo T. Casinilio, Anahawan Barangay Captain and the late Mr. Angel P. Ruales, who at that time was the assistant principal of Anahawan Barangay High School. It had finally acquired the Deed of Donation.
With Miss Alfiniana R. Lagumbay, the designated Teacher-In-Charge of Anahawan Barangay High School from the year 1988 to 1998, classes were held in the present school site. Makeshift classrooms were locally made of cogon grass, bamboo and fourth class wood. Classrooms were often vulnerable to destruction during typhoons, thus frequent reconstruction of the same kind were done by students and facilitated by the teachers.
It was not until 1988, that rooms were gradually replaced with permanent edifices now soaring high from the usual desolated place. It is worth-noting that Anahawan Barangay High School attained its status as a National High School by virtue of the Executive Order 189 placing all municipal and barangay high schools under the national government which was signed by the former President Corazon C. Aquino in the year 1987.
Mr. Reynaldo P. Renomeron Head Teacher III, took the office of the school head from the year 1998 to 2004,
Geographically, the Anahawan National High School nestles at Barangay Anahawan, the largest Barangay of the municipality of Bato and an approximately eleven kilometers (11 kms.) from the poblacion.
Barangay Anahawan can be traversed by any land transportation with fifteen-minute (15 min.) ride along the Bato-Sogod National Highway.
To date, the said learning institution is the only public high school situated in the inner barangay of the municipality. It is located in an uneven land area of .689 hectare and is approximately three hundred meters (300m) from the national road going to San Roque Street of Anahawan. A maximum of five minutes (5 min) walk is needed for one to reach the place from the highway. The road going to the school is almost totally cemented at present, it is passable with its wider area. At present, its existence has greatly catered to the educational needs not only of barangay proper and its neighboring barangays but also to the three barangays of Hilongos, Leyte.
Twenty-five percent (25%) of the student’s yearly population are reported to have resided in far flung mountain barangays who often hike three to five kilometers to and from the school. Statistically, twenty percent (20%) of the students’ population are from neighboring barangays along the national road allowing them to have favorable schooling condition. The remaining fifty-five percent are students from the barangay proper and its seven sitios.
The school’s existence has provided access to secondary education from far-flung barangays namely Himama-a, Liberty, Buli, Revilla, Katipunan, Plaridel, Bago and Cebuana of the municipality of Bato. Moreover, it has served the children of Barangay Osmena, a barangay in Bato that is nestled in the national road. More importantly, it also catered to the educational needs from the three barangays of Hilongos, Leyte such as Baliw, Libertad and Hitudpan.
On the 21st day of July of 2004, Mr. Eulogio M. Ruales took the place of Mr. Reynaldo P. Renomeron as Principal I. There are many improvements he initiated like improving the water system, gate closure, having school watchman, study shed, school canteen, and school guard house.
Finally, the school now has a library, science laboratory, guard house, computer room and a lot of SEDIP equipments which augment effective classroom instruction. It has 18 teachers and four staff. Two of whom are school guards, one utility aide and one administrative aid with the supervision of a kind hearted Principal II, Dr. Richard A. Gabison who took the Office of the Principal from January 2004 up to the present. At present, fourteen classrooms are available for nearly six hundred student’s population
