Gwen: Let the LGU decide if students will be sent for Sinulog, Pasigarbo

Talisay City Central Elementary School perform in the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan at the Cebu City Sports Complex in this January 2018 file photo.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Allowing students to participate in socio-cultural events like Sinulog and Pasigarbo sa Sugbo should be upon the discretion of their respective local government units, who will be funding their participation.

This is the stand of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia despite her call for the Department of Education (DepEd) to set aside extracurricular activities and let students focus on their studies.

“When it is going to be a provincial activity of the Province of Cebu, where it is the Province of Cebu that spends for that activity, then our local government units with our students are welcome to join,” Garcia said, referring to Capitol’s Pasigarbo sa Sugbo.

Pasigarbo sa Sugbo, which is held every August, features the festivals of the different component towns and cities of the province. Last August 2019, it marked a historic participation rate with 44 out of 51 LGUs joining.

For the Sinulog, Garcia said that when it is going to be the LGUs that will spend for the expenses of the delegates, then “this is the prerogative of the LGU.”

The Department of Education in Central Visayas recently reminded school heads not to let students sacrifice school hours for their dance practices as the Sinulog season approaches.

Read: School heads reminded: Don’t let students skip classes to practice Sinulog dance routines

DepEd-7 Regional Director Salustiano Jimenez said the students should complete at least 180 days in school out of the 200 school days.

Read: Gwen tells DepEd: Focus on academics, let Tesda work on skills

But even DepEd has been lashed out by Garcia for holding “so much extra-curricular activities” that keep the students away from their school.

“Ato lang ning klarohon, ang nakalahi lang aning extra-curricular sa DepEd, maayo kaayo. Naa dayoy memorandum ipadala sa tanan mga maestra, mga school heads, district supervisors nga magadto ta sa adto nga lugar kay adto didto ipundok ang mga estudyante. Fine. unsya silay mogasto? LGU ang pagastohon pero silay naghunahuna. Maayo unta kung sila ang makahunahuna ana nga activity, silay mogasto,” Garcia said.

(Let’s make this clear. The difference for DepEd’s extra-curricular activities is that they seem so good. They would issue a memorandum to teachers, school heads, and district supervisors that they will go to this place and bring the students there. But do they spend for it? They let the LGUs spend. It should have been better if they spend for the activities that they have thought of.)

“When it is a DepEd-mandated meet, athletic, cultural, technolympics or whatever where they would insist that students participate, spend for this in terms of transportation and other peripherals and it is the local government unit that is expected to spend, then let the LGU decide,” the governor added.

Garcia earlier called on DepEd to limit extra-curricular activities inside the schools in order not to pull out the students from their classes for so long. /bmjo