This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 17, June 5-11, 2005
The School Below Sleeping Beauty
In just a few days, classes
will begin. While most parents and students are busy buying school supplies and
teachers are sprucing up their classrooms, a tribal community in northern
Philippines is looking for ways to ensure that their children will be able to go
to school this June.
BY MAYETTE INIGUID TINGLAYAN, Kalinga – In
just a few days, classes will begin. While most parents and students are busy
buying notebooks, ballpens, books and uniforms and teachers are sprucing up
their classrooms, a community is looking for ways to ensure that their children
will be able to go to school this June. When typhoon Yoyong struck
the country last December, it left several persons dead and millions worth of
property damaged. While no one died in Barangay Ngibat, this town, strong winds
blew away part of the roof of the community's school building, as well as the
walls and other equipment. Books were soaked and scattered on the mountain
slopes. Ngibat is one of the five
barangays (villages) populated by the Butbut tribe in the municipality of
Tinglayan, Kalinga, a mountainous province more than 400 kilometers north of
Manila. In 2004, it had a population of 270. The main source of livelihood is
farming, both wet rice agriculture and swidden farming. To reach the community,
one takes a two and a half hour jeepney ride from Bontoc town in the nearby Mt.
Province to Barangay Maswa (Lower Basao)
which is the nearest entry point to the barangay. Then another one and a half
hour hike on foot trails through cogon grasslands and rice fields will bring you
to the village. The community school
catered to the learning needs of children from grades one to five. Sixth graders
have to hike for an hour to attend classes at the bigger school in Tinglayan
Proper. When asked where the
children held classes after Yoyong, village chief Pedro Bumon-as said they used
the unfinished barangay hall and the Baptist church building as temporary
classrooms. The children, its three
teachers and other community members helped in recovering equipment and books
damaged by the typhoon. These were left to dry in the sun in order to be used
again. When we visited the area as part of our community immersion, we saw pages
of schoolbooks scattered on the mountainside. All that remained were a few
chairs and a blackboard. Beside the schoolhouse is the Roman Catholic church,
also damaged by typhoon Harurot which also blew off its roof. Kapitan Bumon-as added that
the barangay bought a lot located at a lower area of the barangay for the
construction of another schoolhouse. The area, he said, is safe from strong
winds. The old building was constructed at a higher part of the barangay, on a
ridge with a view of the Sleeping Beauty Mountains. The municipal government
took care of the roofing materials while the barangay was in charge of the posts
and other parts. But even with the availability of land for the new school
building, the children will have to stay in their temporary classrooms for lack
of funds. The children still go to
the old school building to play and act out the dramas they hear on the radio.
With the Sleeping Beauty in view, they continue to dream for new books,
notebooks, ballpens and a new classroom. Nordis / Posted by Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat