THE Mambaling Elementary School wants the settlers displaced by the fire in their area to leave so classes can resume for their students.
“Para sa amo mam, dili ni okay. Maglisod nami sa mga bata (For us it’s not okay. The students will suffer),” said Grade 5 teacher Erdie Villamor, the school’s disaster management coordinator.
About 84 families stayed in the first two floors of the school’s blue building that are used by Grade 4 students in the morning and students of the Night High School in the afternoon.
There were 157 families or 707 persons who lost their homes to the fire last June 26.
Classes for Grade 4 students are held at the school’s covered court with wooden boards dividing the area to create temporary classrooms.
Villamor said based on the Department of Education’s (DepEd) memorandum, schools are supposed to be the last option in looking for an evacuation center.
“Una man gyud nang barangay. Ang school last option nana siya (The barangay hall should be the primary venue and the school should be the last venue),” he said.
The officials of barangay Mambaling earlier filed a resolution asking for a one-week extension for families to stay in the school.
Villamor said their principal Dr. Imelda Binobo called barangay chairman Wilfredo Go to have the evacuees transfer to the school’s covered court.
He told Cebu Daily News that Go has yet to respond to their suggestion.