By Alfredo C. Garvida, Jr.
Contributor
Education, so they say, "is
the most conventional way to get out of poverty." The Philippine State
thus recognizes this
maxim as our Constitution provides on Section 13 of Art. II, otherwise known as
the Declaration of Principles and State Policies, that “The State recognizes
the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect
their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being."
Supplemental to this policy is Section 17 of the same Article, which provides
that "The State shall give priority to education, science and technology,
arts, culture and sports to foster patriotism and nationalism, accelerate
social progress, and promote human liberation and development.”
This writer came across an incident
last month involving, yes, education, that led me to seek further answer
regarding the role and involvement of local government units relevant to these
mandates imposed on them—as agents of the State—by our fundamental law.
My daughter, Renee, was one of the
12 lucky students from the Bangui National High School (BNHS) who qualified in
a provincial qualifying journalism contest to represent the province in the
regional journalism competition that was held in Pangasinan last month.
Obviously, I was elated given that she was the lone entry from her school to
compete in English writing, something I like doing myself.
She asked me to give her P3,500 for
this purpose, to cover registration, transportation, food and accommodation. I
told her in return that this was supposed to be shouldered by the school or the
municipal government which they could source out from the Special Education
Fund (SEF) that is provided by law to be obligatorily given to the Local School
Board at the beginning of the year. She told me in return, too, that their
teachers had advised them that the municipal government of Bangui or the school
for that matter could not provide them the fund at that time—that the parents
therefore had to bear their expenses for this purpose.
My activist instinct abruptly seized
my judgment that I called Mr. Nerio Pascual, the president of the Parents
Teachers Association of BNHS, and discussed with him the situation whereupon I
suggested that he should accompany me to get an audience with Mr. Luis Curammeng,
the principal of the school, to get a confirmation of my daughter's narrative
so that if this were true we could make representation with Bangui Mayor
Diosdado Garvida to remedy the dilemma facing the students. We did get an
audience with Mr. Curammeng but he told us readily, and confidently too, that
the situation had been solved internally in the school that there was no cause
for worry from then on. Obviously, we were relieved, and I told my daughter
about the good news.
Mr. Pascual and I had surmised that
the school must have sourced the fund—and rightfully so—from their
Miscellaneous Operating and Other Expense (MOOE) for this purpose. The MOOE is
part of the budgetary allocation provided by the national government to the
school annually to sustain its operation and live up to its mandate to provide
better educational service to their students. The Bangui National High School,
with 862 student population for the school year 2015-2016, had an allocation of
Php1,390,000 for MOOE, along with P13,678,000 for personnel salary.
The student delegation thus went to
Mangaldan on a Saturday morning, two days prior to the start of the
competition. At 4:30 a.m. of Sunday, however, I received a call from Renee,
asking me to immediately send her P3,500 because Mrs. Kathleen Fandag, the head
of the teaching force who accompanied the kids, was asking her to turn in her
contribution. I was flabbergasted, naturally, not only because of Mr.
Curammeng's apparent unfaithfulness to truth, but also on the judgment of Mrs.
Fandag to unsettle the mind and emotion of her students on the eve of the
contest. I was asking why the principal lied to us. I was asking why Mrs.
Fandag did not collect the fee while the students were still in Bangui. Was she
trying to set them up into a situation where the students had no other way to
go but give in since they were already in the competition venue—akin to giving
up everything you got to a highway robber in exchange for your life? Finally, I
was asking if I erred in putting the educational imperatives for my daughter in
the hands of educators with faulty moral dispositions.
Since Mr. Curammeng was out of town
for a conference, I called up Mrs. Sagucio, the next ranking teacher to the
principal, for answers. She got back with me after 15 minutes and assured me
that the situation in Mangaldan had been settled.
I should have been relieved, but I
was not. The thought of my daughter being barred from participating in the
writing contest on account of non-payment of the fee kept swinging uncomfortably
in my imagination given the previous dispositions of Mrs. Fandag and the
principal. Fortunately, Mrs. Sagucio's representation was correct and my
daughter indeed participated in the competition without further hitch. I found
out later however that Mrs. Fandag was able to collect the fees from the
parents, contrary to my shared belief with Mr. Pascual that the school had used
their MOOE for this exigency. I wondered then if Mr. Curammeng deliberately
pulled my leg to terminate then my inquisitiveness on the matter at issue or
Mrs. Fandag and her co-teachers who accompanied the kids to Mangaldan pulled
his. I wondered who was made a fool out of this mess. Mrs. Fandag, by the way,
has been reported to be on a soliciting spree to finance her personal objective
to put tiles on her school room. I also remember her soliciting from parents of
the students she was in charge of for a comfort room project about three years
ago. I remember this, for I was one of the parents who contributed to the
project. I asked her during the last PTA meeting if the CR was already
finished, and she said yes, but reports have reached me that the CR, while
operational, is still incomplete as of this writing.
We are not here to disparage the
good name of Mrs. Fandag, but there is an existing ordinance, numbered 5-03-04,
of the Municipality of Bangui that prohibits unlawful solicitations from
students and their parents, which includes such solicitation for the CR
project. I know about the ordinance because I was the one who wrote and
sponsored it for passage when I was a member of the Sangguniang Bayan of
Bangui. By some twist of fate, the ordinance was passed on third reading on
June 21, 2004 and approved by the Municipal Mayor on July 7, 2004 to become a
law. My term as SB member ended on June 30, 2004, therefore, I was no longer a
member of the SB when the ordinance was approved, henceforth, I had no more
business verifying if what was approved was what we passed on third reading.
The ordinance's approved text is a
crucial issue on the question of why I acquiesced to contributing to Mrs.
Fandag's CR project despite its apparent violation of the ordinance I wrote.
The reason being that I am almost positive that the ordinance had a provision
that exempts solicitations otherwise considered as unlawful if the classroom
PTA or the school PTA approves the same. The classroom PTA approved Mrs.
Fandag's solicitation for the CR, that's why I also contributed to the cause.
What is so shocking is that when I went to the SB office this week to secure
copy of the ordinance, I found out that the exempting provision, i.e., the PTA
approval, was not contained in the ordinance's text. My brain went flat on my
head, for the ordinance that was approved on third reading was not what was
reflected on its text for the mayor's approval.
The lesson here, therefore, is that
Mrs. Fandag violated the law when she solicited funds from the parents for the
CR., and she will likewise violate the law if she will solicit funds from her
students or their parents for her ambitious tiling project on her school room.
As it turned out, therefore, the only items allowed by this ordinance to be
solicited from parents or students are for "funds that the students
themselves will later use or for the use of students representing the school in
athletic and academic competitions; donations for humanitarian reasons; and
donations for the Red Cross, Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts of the
Philippines."
(To
be continued)
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