Provincial gov’t inaugurates biggest teen center at INHS
By Mary Joy Cavañas
The Iloilo Provincial Government inaugurated the Balay Minerva Teen Center— biggest teen Center 2.0 building—at the Iloilo National High School (INHS) in La Paz district on September 29, 2025.
Named after the goddess of wisdom and justice, the infrastructure was established and made possible through the Teen Center 2.0 program of the Iloilo Provincial Population Office (PPO) which aims to provide a safe haven for youth empowerment and development.
Amounting to Php12 million, the two-storey facility features a counseling room and a reading room on the first floor while a dance studio, music room, and a mini gym were established on the teen center’s second floor.
This initiative will benefit the 6,270 students of INHS to which they will be provided with access to comprehensive adolescent health services and interventions.
Teen Center 2.0 is an advancement of Iloilo’s initiative to establish school-based teen centers, which started in 2011.
Balay Minerva Teen Center is one of 11 teen centers built in secondary schools across the province.
Currently, there are 102 active teen centers established across the province of Iloilo.
Meanwhile, the inauguration ceremony was led by Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. and it was also attended by PPO Chief Atty. Ruel Von Superio, INHS Principal IV Deborah Cecilia Fantillo, Commission on Population and Development (CPD) VI Regional Director Harold Alfred Marshall, Department of Education (DepEd) Iloilo Schools Superintendent Dr. Ernesto Servillon, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation President Esara Javier, Provincial Engr. Romeo Andig, Provincial School Board Secretary Freda Fajardo, and INHS School Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) President Annabelle Samaniego.
