Daanbantayan students vented despair before their deaths

STUDENTS TOLD CLASSMATES THROUGH FACEBOOK, TEXT MESSAGE DAYS BEFORE SUICIDE

 Before taking their own lives, two of  three students of Daanbantayan National High School vented their despair to classmates through Facebook and a text message.

In an initial report on the three suicide cases, a team from the Department of Education sent to the school said a  teenage female student had an argument with her father on March 16, days before she took her life.

The DepEd team said the student’s mother told one of the teachers that her husband covered her mouth after he and their daughter had the confrontation.

READ: School woes drove cousins to kill selves?

The 15-year-old student  sent a Facebook private message to her classmate after the argument. She  told her that it would be “her last chat” with her.

“Bye _____, last ko na lang ni na chat ahm. Dle npud ko mo problema nga dle ko ma cleared dle nako mo xkol pls ko tell ni ________nga sorry nga wala ko motingog nla coz kabala knaman nangano. Plz ko tell ni lang ug _____nga ila folder dre ipakuha lang. Bye…bye.. thanks sa lahat pakisabi din kay ______thank you..sa lahat (Bye, this is  my last chat. I won’t have a problem not being cleared, I won’t go to school, please tell ––  I’m sorry I won’t talk to them because you know why. Please tell ––  to get her folder here. Bye, bye. Thanks for everything, please tell –– thanks for everything),” her Facebook message read.

SCOLDED

On learning about her Facebook message, a class adviser sent three students to check on the student. They were surprised to see the student hanging dead inside her room.

READ: Daanbantayan students struggle after 3 suicides

Her 15-year-old cousin sent a text message to his classmate before he hanged himself.  His message read “PUSLAN MAN WALA KO MA CLEARED MAY PA HIKOG KO (No matter if I’m not cleared, it’s better if I kill myself).”

The DepEd team learned that the male student and his six classmates were scolded by their Filipino subject teacher and school caretaker for being rowdy inside her class.

They were told by school officials that their clearances won’t be approved until they talk things over with their teacher.

INVESTIGATION

The student apologized to the Filipino teacher who refused to sign the clearance and left for a meeting with Daanbantayan municipal officials. Six students secured their clearances except for the victim.

Dr. Arden Monisit, DepEd Cebu Provincial Supt. recommended to Dr. Juliet Jeruta, DepEd regional director, to conduct further investigation.  Most of the DepEd officials were unavailable since they were attending a whole day executive committee meeting at the Ecotech center in Sudlon, Lahug.