DepEd to discuss destroyed school properties with Muntinlupa LGU —spox

The Department of Education (DepEd) will discuss with the Muntinlupa City government the reported damaged properties at a public high school which was used by evacuees during the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Paeng, DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said Thursday.

"Tayo po sa DepEd, ayaw din natin na nasisira 'yung mga paaralan natin dahil may kakulangan na po sa classroom  (In DepEd, we don't want our schools to be destroyed because we are already facing a shortage in classrooms) but again let us talk first to the LGU regarding that," Poa said in a chance interview.

On Tuesday, Muntinlupa City Mayor Ruffy Biazon took to social media his disappointment over the supposed disarray in a local public high school after it was used as an evacuation center of families displaced by Paeng.

He shared photos of a destroyed chalkboard and pieces of garbage scattered all over the staircase of the campus.

"Lungkot o galit...hindi ko alam ang nangingibabaw sa nararamdaman ko...'Yan ay mga pictures ng eksena sa isa nating paaralan na ginamit bilang evacuation site nitong nakaraan na bagyong si Paeng," Biazon wrote on his official Facebook page.

The mayor said the local government was refraining from using public schools as evacuation centers as this may disrupt the resumption of classes and the facilities were often in disarray after the calamities. However, many of their constituents were in need of temporary shelters.

"Ngunit ano ang naging kapalit nito? Ang pagsira ng mag pasilidad at walang pakialam na iniwang nakakalat ang basura sa paaralan. Bakit ganyan ang nangyari? Bakit parang walang malasakit sa kagamitang pampubliko ang mga taong binigyan ng kalinga sa harap ng kalamidad? Ito na ba ang karakter ng mga tao ngayon?" he went on.

"Galit ako sa mga gumawa nito at sa mga responsable sa pangyayaring ito. Titiyakin kong may mananagot dito," he wrote.

In the same interview, Poa said the Education Department will verify if they can still implement the agreement with the LGUs with regard to the shouldering of expenses for the restoration of destroyed facilities in schools used as isolation centers during the height of the pandemic.

"During the pandemic, ginamit ang classrooms as isolation facilities or quarantine facilities. May agreement with LGUs pag may sira, 'yung LGU ang bahala sa clean up at sa mga nasirang kagamitan. Right now, we have to revisit and see. I don't have the [information] right now ano 'yung pwedeng iimplement na policy," he said.

(During the pandemic, the classrooms were used as isolation or quarantine facilities. There was an agreement with the LGUs that if the properties were damaged, they will be the one who will repair or restore. Right now, we have to revisit and see if that agreement could apply. Right now, I don't have the information regarding the policy that we should implement.)

He then mentioned Department Order 37 which allows the schools to be used as evacuation areas for a maximum period of 15 days.

"Dahil may kakulangan sa school buildings as it is, ayaw nating lalo pang lumaki ang kakulangan dahil sa long-term staying evacuees (Because there is a shortage in school buildings as it is, we don't want to inflate this shortage because of the long-term staying evacuees)," he said.

Poa along with DepEd National Capital Region director Wildredo Cabral visited several schools in Quezon City on Thursday morning to check the full implementation of face-to-face classes.

Cabral said there are around 10 public high schools that are still implementing blended learning.

Although he maintained that the "most advantageous" learning modality is in-person classes, Poa said they are allowing blended learning in campuses that are highly-congested until they address the shortage in classrooms and other learning resources.

For the meantime, Cabral they are seeking to use all the facilities that can be converted as classrooms.

"Ginagamit natin ang lahat ng mga pasilidad na pwede. We used to convert other non-instructional classrooms to classrooms para masigurado na merong face-to-face interaction ang teacher at ating mga learner," he said.

Further, Poa said some teachers were already instructed to return the laptops and computer sets borrowed from the school computer laboratories during the pandemic.

"Dito sa Quezon City, marami nang nagsoli...Naglabas kasi ng memo back in 2020 yung former undersecretary ng administration strand namin... Ang nakasaad sa memo na ito, the teachers are required to return the devices upon the resumption of regular classes," Poa said.

(In Quezon City, there are a lot of teachers who have already returned the computers to the laboratories. In 2020, the former undersecretary for administration had released a memorandum. Under that memorandum, the teachers are required to return the devices upon the resumption of regular classes.)

"Of course kakailanganin natin 'yung mga pinahiram na kagamitan para ilagay sa mga paaralan natin para naman magamit talaga ng learners for which they were originally intended...Currently naman binabalik naman ng teachers natin," he added.

(Of course, we need those equipment back in our laboratories so our learners can utilize it. Currently, our teachers are complying with the instruction to return these computer sets.)—AOL, GMA News