CEBU CITY, Philippines – A Grade 8 teacher from the Dawahon Integrated School in Barangay Dawahon in Bato, Leyte has turned to his social media page to seek government aid for the repair of their damaged classrooms and for the purchase of additional arm chairs.
“Pagkasud palang nahu dri atung 2018 engun ani najud ni ang sitwasyon ni samot pag human sa bagyo na Odette,” said the teacher, who asked not to be named.
The teacher said it was somewhat disheartening that Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte was again asking for confidential funds, when in fact, what they badly need was the immediate repair of classrooms in their school.
“DepEd palihug pakurati me, diri e hapak nang injong confidential fund wami tarong classroom ug lingkuranan puro guba wapa juy kuryente perting inita! Plhug lang!,” the teacher wrote in a social media post.
In 2020, a total of P221.424 million was moved from the contingency fund to the Office of the Vice President, of which P125 million went to Duterte’s confidential fund in December 2022 after she sought the money in August or two months after she assumed office.
This year, DepEd is proposing a P150 million confidential fund to be included in its 2024 budget.
The allocation was highly criticized by some legislators, including Senator Risa Hontiveros, and teachers’ groups.
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However, Duterte defended DepEd’s need for confidential funds saying that education was tied to security.
The current state of classrooms at the Dawahon Integrated School. | Contributed Photo
After reading reports about DepEd’s confidential funds, the teacher from Bato, Leyte made a social media post to urge government to instead spend available funds where it was needed the most.
Speaking from his experience, he said, most of the schools in hinterland communities and those that are located on island barangays continue to be in a bad state.
The teacher’s post has garnered more than 3,000 reactions on Facebook as of this writing.
“Ang ako ra gyud is unta musuroy sila sa mga suok2 nga mga lugar, especially namu dri nga nahimutang sa isla para makakita sila sa tinuod nga sitwasyon […],” the teacher told CDN Digital in an interview on Friday, September 15.
Dawahon is a barangay on Danajon Islet that is also called Dawahon Islet. The islet is situated between the island of Bohol and Southern Leyte. / dcb