Teachers and officials at a school in General Santos City have raised concerns over canal water that regularly enters the school premises, especially during rainy season.

Officials of the Balite Elementary School in Barangay Lagao warned that stagnant water poses health risks to learners such as dengue.

Parents have been helping clean the school grounds as part of the ongoing Brigada Eskwela 2026 while declogging operations in the drainage canals inside the school are also scheduled.

However, school officials said the problem persists because canal water from nearby households continues to flow into the campus.

“Ang problema kasi pagdating sa likod wala mang daanan ang tubig so tendency ng tubig dito siya naga-stay,” Balite Elementary School Principal, Marilo Marie Boloso, said.

The water also takes time to subside, which has been disrupting classes.

“Actually pag-umuulan talagang grabe hassle kaau sa mung part and then ang klase mga two days kame naga modular,” Boloso added.

The issue has already been raised to the barangay in 2025, which prompted the conduct of declogging operations in drainage canals outside the school. However, the problem continues to persist.

The barangay said the local government already has a solution.

“Duna nay plano ang atung city engineers nga butangan og concrete road with drainage na. Kanang gikan didto sa may narra paingun sa may highway, isa na sa among ginapaabot unta mapunduhan na siya, para duna nay kaagian ang tubig kabalo man mu kanang area sa Balite medyo ubus-ubus,” Barangayy Lagao Chairman Jaime Tatad said.

The City Health Office (CHO) also stressed that schools must not have stagnant water to prevent dengue-carrying mosquitoes from breeding.

Based on data from CHO, up to 500 cases of dengue were recorded from January 1 to May 31, 2026. This is lower than the 800 cases logged in the same period in 2025.

“Unfortunately, with that 500 we have recorded one death doon sa ating surveillance unit. Compared with last year meron tayong apat. It just show haw fatal dengue talaga,” Assistant City Health Officer, Dr. Karl Ivan Daryl Igrobay, said.