DAVAO CITY — After an hour of breathtaking walk on a very still and dangerous trail in the outskirts of Sinalaban, a remote village of Talaingod town, Davao del Norte, we reached a very peaceful place where Ata Manobo learners attend their classes, the Sambulungan Elementary School., one of the last school miles of the Department of Education in Davao region.
Walking through a very stiff and narrow trail which even a motorbike could hardly pass led us to a small village called Sambulugan, where the elementary school was located on top of the hill where learners from kindergarten to grade 6 were waiting for our school supplies and other goodies.
Only three teachers serve the 136 learners of the school and the students have nothing but interest o get educated, some of them goes to school barefooted and only few have pencil of pen, the teacher has to provide their need.
The school has two-classrooms and one of which is the sleeping quarter for the teachers at night because the area is very very far and teachers are from other town of the province.
The Salupungan school is located at top of teh mountain which is part of Pantaron range, where three of the makeshift camps of the Communist Party of The Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA), were previously located.
The village used to be a lair of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New Peoples Army (CPP/NPA), the movement invaded the heaven of the 200 Ata Manobo tribe families.
The learners benefitted the school materials from Newsline Philippines on Tuesday, September 6, 2022.
Each student received a total of P3,000 cash, one thousand for education assistance and two thousand for food assistance which was taken against the fund of Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go.
The Newsline then collaborated with Senator Go, who also provided rice and other food stuff to the learners.
Go also downloaded portion of his fund for Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) XI which in turn requested the DSWD Davao del Norte Office to release the fund for the students.
The Newsline intervened and collaborated with other agencies after Rodel Fernandez, the school principal requested Newsline to help them in the school needs of the children.
Smiling while approaching the team during their arrival, Fernandez said “I am was so grateful “This is the first time that the students and the people here welcomes visitors, because this is very far and none except today visited us.”
Fernandez said the students could hardly afford to but school materials as many of them are dependent to corn and abacca farming which is currently suffering due to weather condition.
For MayMay Ibodan, mother of a grade 1 pupil the government assistance meant a lot to her child and her family, “Naglisod gyud mi, daku kaayong tabang sa akong pamilya, kaning gihatag sa gobierno nga kuarta og mga pagkaon, ug sa pag eskuela sa akong anak, salamat kaayo (We are hard up, the cash and the food given to us is a big help to my family and my child who is enrolled now, thank you so much), she said in vernacular.
Thee road was tricky and stiff but the personnel of the 56th Infantry Tatag Battalion helped the group and secure the area to deliver the assistance to the Ata Manobo children.-Editha Z. Caduaya
