Before the massacre, Biyaheng Totoo revealed plight of young students in Maguindanao
Before the infamous massacre of November 23, Maguindanao was a rarely visited province in Muslim Mindanao. But it was the first destination of Biyaheng Totoo, a series of journeys by GMA News reporters to the country’s ten poorest provinces.
It was hoped that the stories of these journeys, aired on all of the network’s news programs, would enable the voices of these provinces’ long-neglected people to be heard by the Philippines’ next president.
It was there last September that reporter Michael Fajatin met elementary school students who commute to school by crossing a lake known to be a crocodile habitat.
The pupils brave the lake to reach Barangay Matila in the town of Kabuntalan, only about 30 kilometers from Ampatuan town, to attend school with a single classroom with a dirt floor and without a lavatory.
The teacher is a volunteer named Conchita Patiño who needs to buy her own basic classroom supplies like chalk and erasers.
“Kung hindi pa ako makapunta ng Cotabato (City), wala pa akong chalk," laments Patiño.
Despite the dismal facilities, the teacher is proud of her students’ near-perfect attendance.
The plight of the students in Kabuntalan is not unique in the province, where three out of 10 people cannot read or write. Despite an Internal Revenue Allotment of P633 million in 2006, Maguindanao’s provisions for education are severely lacking. At best, it is an after-thought.
More priority is given to road construction, for which the provincial government spent more than P91 million in 2006. Allotment for government personnel salaries also take up as much as 30-70% of the provincial budget.
As she wrote on the Biyaheng Totoo journal, Patiño could only hope that through her message, the next president will hear their call for help.
“Gusto ko pong madagdagan ang aming eskwelahan at CR. Gusto ko pong humingi ng tulong sa inyo para sa ikabubuti ng aming lugar. Sana po bigyan ninyo ng pagkakataon ang aming kahilingan," she writes.
With the massacre, Maguindanao has drawn unwanted attention. Biyaheng Totoo reminds the nation’s next leaders that the province has long thirsted for attention for its children.
See video below. – HGS/GMANews.TV
It was hoped that the stories of these journeys, aired on all of the network’s news programs, would enable the voices of these provinces’ long-neglected people to be heard by the Philippines’ next president.
It was there last September that reporter Michael Fajatin met elementary school students who commute to school by crossing a lake known to be a crocodile habitat.
The pupils brave the lake to reach Barangay Matila in the town of Kabuntalan, only about 30 kilometers from Ampatuan town, to attend school with a single classroom with a dirt floor and without a lavatory.
The teacher is a volunteer named Conchita Patiño who needs to buy her own basic classroom supplies like chalk and erasers.
“Kung hindi pa ako makapunta ng Cotabato (City), wala pa akong chalk," laments Patiño.
Despite the dismal facilities, the teacher is proud of her students’ near-perfect attendance.
The plight of the students in Kabuntalan is not unique in the province, where three out of 10 people cannot read or write. Despite an Internal Revenue Allotment of P633 million in 2006, Maguindanao’s provisions for education are severely lacking. At best, it is an after-thought.
More priority is given to road construction, for which the provincial government spent more than P91 million in 2006. Allotment for government personnel salaries also take up as much as 30-70% of the provincial budget.
As she wrote on the Biyaheng Totoo journal, Patiño could only hope that through her message, the next president will hear their call for help.
“Gusto ko pong madagdagan ang aming eskwelahan at CR. Gusto ko pong humingi ng tulong sa inyo para sa ikabubuti ng aming lugar. Sana po bigyan ninyo ng pagkakataon ang aming kahilingan," she writes.
With the massacre, Maguindanao has drawn unwanted attention. Biyaheng Totoo reminds the nation’s next leaders that the province has long thirsted for attention for its children.
See video below. – HGS/GMANews.TV
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