A very deplorable fate of a Deped official who wants to close schools

Dear Diary,

Ilang dekada na ring pinabayaan ng gobyerno ang mga lumad sa Talaingod. Ilang dekada na ring niloko ang mga Manobo doon ng mga malalaking logging companies sa pangunguna ng Alsons. Matapos ang kanilang mahabang pakikibaka para sa madepensahan ang kanilang lupang ninuno (yutang kabilin o ancestral domain), nagpasya sila na ang pagtatayo ng kanilang paaralan ay isang mahalagang bahagi ng pakikibakang ito.

Nakita nila na ang edukasyon sa mga susunod na henerasyon ang susi upang hindi na sila basta-basta maloko ulit ng mga dayong gahaman na nais lamang angkinin ang kanilang kayamanan, ang mga ginto at iba pang minerales sa kanilang kabundukan at ang mga matatayog na punongkahoy na ginagawang troso. Nakita nila ang magandang kinabukasan ng kanilang mga anak at mga apo dahil sa eskwelahang Salugpungan Ta Tanu Igkanogon Learning Center kung saan katatapos lang ng Grade 8 ang pinakaunang batch.

Tapos heto ang isang opisyal ng gobyerno, opisyal pa man din ng Deped, na gustong ipasara ang eskwelahang siyang nagpuno sa serbisyong hindi kayang ibigay ng gobyerno. Lord, sana bigyan nyo ako ng sapat na lakas para unawain ang mga inutil at ignorante sa gobyerno.

Nagdadasal,
Che

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Education exec wants tribal schools closed, recommends deployment of military ‘para-teachers’

By NewsDesk
May 28, 2015

IT’S not enough that the Department of Education has abandoned the Ata-Manobo children of Talaingod in Davao del Norte for many years by failing to put up schools or send teachers to upland communities and depressed villages; it wants to double the offense by shutting down three tribal schools in the town based only on the allegation that the schools are fronts of the New People’s Army.

The recommendation of Dr. Josephine Fadul, schools division superintendent of Davao del Norte, came at a time when children catered by the Salugpungan Ta Tanu Igkanugon schools are faced with the uncertainty of having to continue their education this year — or not — as soldiers allegedly have once again used their schools as camps.

In the nearby town of Kapalong — in Sitio Muling, Barangay Gupitan — a school constructed for the lumad children will not be available for the children as the new school year opens next month. The paramilitary group Alamara has issued a warning to the parents against having their children enrolled in the school. The school, funded by the nonprofit group Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Inc. (Misfi), is the only school in Muling, a village that that can be reached after two days of walk.

The children of Muling are in Davao City, joining calls for the soldiers and the paramilitary group Alamara to vacate their school.

Lt. Chrystin Pamplona, OIC spokesperson of 10th ID, dismissed this as nothing but “old thing, recycled propaganda.”

Meanwhile, Fadul has sought for the closure of the three Salugopungan Ta Tanu Igkanunon schools in a letter she submitted to Department of Education Regional Director Alberto Escobarte. This was her response to the position paper of the Talaingod Municipal Tribal Council that demanded the school be assessed and shut down because the tribal schools are fronts of the rebels.

Fadul then recommended the construction of a school in the village of Butay to be managed by the military.

“Should this request for the closure of the said schools be granted, in its stead, this Division requests permission to implement the creation of a public high school in Butay, Talaingod utilizing military personnel as para-teachers…” Fadul said in a letter.

Apart from being absurd, Fadul’s recommendations only show her ignorance of the law and lack of compassion for the Ata-Manobo children.

“These children had long been deprived of proper education and only because of the Salugpungan Ta Tanu Igkanugon that they were able to have a taste of how it is to get basic education. What she is doing now is an attack to the children and the schools — the same schools that provided the children with education, the time when DepEd was a failure,” said Rius Valle, spokesperson of the advocacy group Save Our Schools Network.

Contrary to reports that the schools are running without permits, Valle said all the Salugpungan Ta Tanu Igakanugon schools have been accredited by DepEd Central Office through the Indigenous Peoples Education Office. The schools’ operations are also guided by DepEd Order No. 21 that recognized private learning institutions serving tribal learners. For this, he slammed Fadul for being ignorant of the law.

“She has recommended the construction of schools and the deployment of para-teachers. How ignorant she can be to not know that soldiers are not supposed to walk into classrooms and act as teachers?” he said.

Valle said his group is looking into the possibility of filing formal complaint against Fadul.

“She is supposed to protect the schools, but now, she is the one pushing for its destruction. This is very deplorable,” Valle said. | JMT, NewsDesk