The Nueva Ecija South High School (NESHS) - A Short History
Excerpted from "Our Beloved Gapan - An Open Letter"
Author: Efren Pascual, NESHS '58 Alumnus
Publication: NESHS '58 1998 Reunion Commemorative Magazine, May 1998
During the Japanese occupation in the years 1942-1945, the town lost its high school. The following year, 1946, the parents and teachers of Gapan -- intent on having a high sch
ool for their children -- successfully arranged to have the three-story house of Mr. The Japanese soldiers under Col. Ohta also used this house as a garrison. (Thus the origin of how the building became known as OHTA). The husband and wife team of Manuel and Luz M. Garcia opened the school in February 1946, with Manuel Garcia acting as the principal. At the opening of the next school year, 1947-1948, classes were moved to the Maharlika or National Road. The project of moving the school was facilitated by the then Mayor Dioscoro M. de Leon. Present day NESHS
The Department of Education required a land area of no less that 10 hectares in order for a school to qualify as a municipal or provincial high school. The ten hectares of rice fields belonged to different owners; Daniel and Damaso Cunanan, 14,229 and 1,577 square meters; Jose Yamsuan, 16,313 square meters; Basilisa Jacinto, 8,784 and 2,604 square meters and Mercedes Garcia, 6,518 square meters. The landowners all agreed to have their land replaced by other rice fields in another town. The land exchanged totaled 49,425 square meters only. To complete the needed 10 hectares, the adjacent land inherited by Queteria L. Ortiz from Donata Linsangan had to be purchased. Ten thousand pesos were needed to purchase the land. Through the assistance of then Mayor Joaquin Valmonte and the Parents Teachers Association, the supplemental amount was raised. The school opened as the Gapan Municipal High School in 1946. In 1952 the school was classified as a provincial high school and was named Nueva Ecija South High School. It was during this time that we were students at the school.
