Dr. Bianito Dagatan – DepEd-Mandaue Superintendent
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Keep your cool, stay composed.
This is the message of Dr. Bianito Dagatan, superintendent of the Department of Education in Mandaue City, to the students, parents, and teachers following the fight of Grade 11 inside the room in a school in Barangay Jagobiao in Mandaue on November 6.
Dagatan on Monday, November 13, said that parents and teachers also play an important role in guiding students in handling situations and keeping in mind to control their emotions.
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Deped Mandaue chief on anger
“Kung naa ta sa kasuko, later on anha ta magbasol pero nahuman na nato og himo. Ang atoa advice sa learners, parents, and even the teachers, pero mao lagi ang role anha nato ipasa sa parents and teachers nga magiyahan ang mga bata,” said Dagatan.
(If we are angry [and we do something], later on we will regret doing it but we already have done it. Our advice to the learners, parents, and even the teachers, but that is really the role that we pass to parents and teachers that they will guide their children.)
Dagatan said that a disciplinary investigation was being conducted to determine the actions that would be taken against the students involved.
While the investigation is pending, they will be allowed to enter classes.
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Disciplinary action, recommendation
“Adto nato makita sa result sa disciplinary investigation sa principal. Unsay iyaha’ng recommendation? Naa bay suspension? kung naay suspension, how many days? At the same time, atoa sad tan-awon nga kung adunay infraction nga nahimo. Ang mahimo nga action sa eskwelahan dili pod mosobra, ang mo-fit ra sad sa kung unsa ang lagda nga gituman nato, existing policies sa Deped, seeing to it also nga dili ma-alanganin ang pag-eskwela sa bata,” said Dagatan.
(We will see the result in the disciplinary investigation of the principal. What is his recommendation? Is there a suspension? If there is a suspension, how many days? At the same time, we also look if there is really an infraction that has been done. The action of the school for that should not exceed, and it should also fit on what the policy that we are implementing, existing policies of DepEd, seeing to it also that the studies of the child will not be put at a disadvantage.)
The fight of the students was caught in a video and went viral online.
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Video on classroom fight
In the video, a male student can be seen pushing the head of a female student to the blackboard.
Then, another male student punched the attacker to get back at what he did to the girl. The two male students then engaged in a fistfight.
The incident happened on November 6 after the flag ceremony.
“Sa atoang information nga nahibaw-an, the teachers are about to prepare for classes. Kato nga period after flag ceremony, sila pa ang naa sa classroom. Wala say naka-inform sa teachers until after na-stop na ang incident. Pag-abot sad sa teacher, gipatawag ang estudyante,, gi-estoryahan sila, giclarify niya gipatawag sad ang ilaha’ng parents,” said DepEd-Mandaue Spokesperson, Lawyer Marinel Oro.
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Jealousy seen as cause
(From the information that we gathered, the teachers are about to prepare for classes. That period after the flag ceremony, they were still the ones inside the classroom. Nobody informed the teachers until after the incident was stopped. When the teacher arrived, the students were called, the teacher talked to them, they clarified what happened and called their parents.)
According to reports, jealousy was the reason for the fight. However, DepEd-Mandaue refused to give further details on the matter.
Oro said that the family of the female student has already been able to get her checked. Based on the information they received she did not sustain severe injury, however, they let her undergo counseling.