In this Sept. 4, 2007 photo, the Sapangdaku Elementary School experienced neck-deep flooding that led to the evacuation of schoolchildren and left school materials damaged. Yesterday, tanods led students to higher ground after the river again overflowed. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Students of the Sapangdaku Elementary School in one of the mountain barangays of Cebu City were quickly herded out of their classrooms yesterday morning as heavy rains caused the Sapangdaku River to overflow.
The intense ringing of the school bell at 8:30 a.m. warned the pupils of the former Baksan Elementary School of the impending emergency, as only a concrete fence separates the school from the river and the compound was starting to get flooded.
The Sapangdaku River serves as the outlet for rainwater coming from upland barangays in Cebu City’s south district.
Barangay tanods helped children exit the school compound and led them to higher ground where they could wait in safety for their parents.
“Amo na lang dayon gi evacuate ang mga bata kay ni kusog gyud ang water current, sakto nga maka anod gyud simbako ug bata,” said barangay captain Lorna Damalerio. (We immediately took them to a safer area because the water current was strong enough to drown a child.)
The elementary school has seven classrooms and a population of about 500 Kindergarten to Grade 6 pupils who are divided into morning and afternoon shifts.
Mayor Michael Rama gave instructions to suspend classes for the day. Rama left for Manila yesterday morning to attend an official function. He wants the school vacated and the children transferred to a temporary facility until a new school building is built on higher grounds.
Flooding has been a problem affecting the Sapangdaku Elementary School since seven years ago.
Damalerio, however, said the new school building could not be built owing to the 25 structures standing on a city-owned lot which has been identified as their relocation site.
The 3,000-square meter lot is located along the road and near the Sapangdaku barangay hall.
“Naka tulo ka meeting na mi sa mga occupants pero dili gyud sila mo pahawa,” said Damalerio. (We have met the occupants thrice but they refuse to move out.)
In the absence of a new school building, Damalerio said they have to allow classes at the Sapangdaku Elementary School.
As a precautionary measure, they placed a huge bell near the school’s entrance to alert pupils of any rise in water levels so they could be immediately evacuated. Parents have also been briefed that any bell ringing should be taken as an advisory for them to fetch their children from school.
Damalerio said that for as long as water levels at the Sapangdaku River remain at a “tolerable level”, classes will continue at the school.
Members of the Local School Board headed by lawyer Jose Daluz III convened for a special meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss the issue.
Daluz said they are now looking at the feasibility of temporarily relocating students to the nearby Napo Elementary School and the Guadalupe Elementary School. The city government will provide free rides on city-owned buses.
However, Daluz said arrangements would have to be made with officials of the two other schools before the actual transfer of students could be made.
As this developed, Daluz said he already wrote the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) to ask for a second inspection on the Buot (not Buot Taup) and Busay Elementary Schools to find out if the two structures are still safe.
He said the MGB report which stated that the locations of the two schools were unsafe was made in 2007. Since the issuance of the report, clearing operations had been made at the back of the Buot Elementary School to prevent landslides.