DAVAO CITY — The day glows when seventeen (17) Ata-Manobo students from Sambulongan Elementary School in the hinterlands of Davao del Norte marched on their graduation day on Tuesday, July 11, wearing white graduation clothes.
“I was teary-eyed when I watched the students garb in white, I cannot believe the white graduation clothes give them identity as graduates because they were used to wear their school uniform in consonance with the guidelines of the Department of Education,” Rodel Fernandez, the school principal told Newsline Philippines.
The parents who marched with their children wore the traditional Ata-Manobo clothes which is made of hand woven fabric.
Newsline Philippines, which has been supporting the school, provided the graduation clothes for the first face to face graduation rite after the two-year pandemic.
Sambulongan Elementary School in Talaingod, Davao del Norte is one of the four Last Mile Schools in Davao region and one of the 7, 144 in the whole country.
The DepEd on its official press release describes the Last Mile Schools as those with less than four classrooms, usually makeshift and non-standard ones, no electricity, no fund for repairs or new construction; and a travel distance of more than one hour away from the center, accessible only through difficult terrain. Likewise, these are schools with multi-grade classes, with less than five teachers, and a population of less than 100 learners, more than 75% of whom are indigenous peoples (IP).
The village of Sambulungan used to be the biggest camp of the communist New People’s Army (NPA), it sits at the boundary of the provinces of Davao del Norte and Bukidnon.
Biggest part of Pantaron Mountain Range sits in Talaingod town, once described as the Central Cordillera of Mindanao due to the massive influence of the communist insurgents.
Two years ago, the entire province of Davao del Norte was declared insurgency-free, after the biggest camp in Sambulungan was taken over by the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“Newsline Philippines has been there for us and the recent gift to the students uplifted our students morale as they marched with pride on their white graduation clothes.”-Editha Z. Caduaya
