Wood for school chairs, desks left to decay in Pangasinan school storage area

First, the good news: trees cut to make way for the widening of the Manila North Road are to be made into chairs for students in some schools in Pangasinan.

Now, the bad news: the chairs have yet to be made and the wood is still stored in the compound of the Juan G. Macaraeg National High School in Binalonan, GMA Dagupan reported.

This has dismayed the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, which said it had given the wood to the DepEd to make into chairs for the pupils this school year.

"Agreement yan eh, na nilagdaan ng aming regional director saka ng DepEd. So inaasahan namin na i-report din sa amin kung ilang hundreds of chairs yung na-create dun sa school na binigyan," said PENRO head Wendy Co.

Worse, the PENRO said the wood is in the early stage of decay and may no longer be fit for making into chairs or desks.

For now, it is considering giving the wood to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to use for cooking the inmates' food.

But DepEd Pangasinan II Division OIC superintendent Rosalino Agpalo said the problem was with the lack of funds for labor.

"Labor for the cutting of trees, yung patitistis, at tsaka tinatanggihan na rin nung mga gumagawa dahil pag yung tinatamaan na ng mga hard object, nasisira yung kanilang kagamitan," Agpalo said.

The local DepEd said it is looking for a way to address the shortage of chairs and desks. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News