SUPPORT TO TRIBAL SCHOOL. Tribal school teachers in the Surigao del Sur town of Marihatag receive the more than 100 school bags from the GMA Kapuso Foundation that were formally handed over by 1Lt. Krisjuper Andreo J. Punsalan (2nd from left), the civil-military operations officer of the Army's 3rd Special Forces Battalion, and Nilson D. Malasarte (right), the president of Andap Valley Eagles’ Club. The school is among the two learning facilities constructed by the Army’s 544th Engineer Construction Battalion for the indigenous peoples in the province. (Photo courtesy of 3SFBn)
BUTUAN CITY – A top Army official in Surigao del Sur has commended the private sector's assistance to the schoolchildren of an indigenous people (IP) school in Marihatag town.
Lt. Col. Joey B. Baybayan, commanding officer of the Army's 3rd Special Forces Battalion (3SFBn), said Monday that education among the children of the Manobo tribe in Marihatag would shield them from the "influence, manipulation, and recruitment of the communist New People’s Army (NPA)".
The IP school in Marihatag is accredited with the Department of Education (DepEd) and was recently turned over to the Manobo community in Sitio Locnodon, Barangay Mahaba.
“Education is the best way to counter the NPA recruitment among the IP youth and children in Surigao del Sur,” Baybayan said.
He added that the Balik ARAL Project of various private groups implemented at the IP school in Marihatag indicated the "shared responsibility of all stakeholders for the future of the IP children in Marihatag and the rest of Surigao del Sur".
On Oct. 24, more than 100 school bags from the GMA Kapuso Foundation were distributed to the pupils of the IP school in Sitio Locnodon, Mahaba through the groups Propelling Our Inherited Nation through our Youth, Inc.(POINTY) and the Andap Valley Eagles’ Club of the Fraternal Order of the Eagles.
The activity was also supported by the 3SFBn, the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) of Marihatag, and the Liga ng mga Barangay.
Each bag contains pencils, crayons, pad papers, notebooks, sharpeners, and erasers. A printer ink and bond papers were also donated by the Andap Valley Eagles’ Club to help teachers produce learning modules.
The donated items were received by the teachers and the parents of the IP schoolchildren in the area.
The IP school in Marihatag is among the two IP schools constructed by the Army’s 544th Engineer Construction Battalion. The other IP school was constructed in Sitio Simowao, Lianga, Surigao del Sur. (PNA)
