January 7, 2024 was a very good day for the teachers, barangay officials and parents in JMA Poniton, an impoverished barangay in the capital town of Virac.
That afternoon, officers of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers, Inc. (PICE) turned over the typhoon-resilient building it donated to JMA Poniton Elementary School after several months of construction.
Not only that, the Poniton residents and school management clearly heard DPWH Regional Director Virgilio Eduarte say that the school, where the main two-classroom building remains unrepaired three years after it was destroyed by super typhoon Rolly, was included in the proposed P215 million proposal it would be submitting for funding under the DPWH’s 2023 Quick Reaction Fund (QRF).
Since classes resumed after the 2020 calamity, the pupils of the school have been attending classes in two overcrowded Temporary Learning Centers (TLCs) built with materials that would not withstand the winds of a mere typhoon.
Their joy at the good news was heartfelt and palpable, as shown by how the people of Poniton and the teachers served native food for the donors and visitors.
Intending to learn exactly what schools with yet-to-be rehabilitated classrooms were in the DPWH list, the Tribune officially requested the DepEed Catanduanes Schools Division Office for a list of classroom rehabilitation projects which went unfunded under the 2021 QRF.
It may be recalled that then Congressmen Hector Sanchez successfully followed up the release of about P700 million in funding for the rehabilitation of destroyed or heavily damaged school buildings in Catanduanes.
The list provided by DepEd Catanduanes showed that of the 27 schools on it, rehab projects in eight of them were already ongoing and funded under the 2023 Basic Educational Facilities Fund (BEFF).
JMA Ponition Elementary School was in the list, with the rehabilitation of its two classrooms to cost just above P1.5 million.
However, a separate list for the P215-million QRF proposal secured by the Tribune from a source at DPWH showed that JMA Ponition ES was not among the 34 schools listed in order of priority.
Interestingly, the document furnished by the DPWH source was actually prepared by the DepEd division engineer and signed by his superiors.
It now appears that when DPWH Dir. Eduarte made the announcement that the only two classrooms of JMA Poniton Elementary School will soon be rehabilitated, only the DepEd division office representative knew that the school was not included the QRF funding list.
This may come as big letdown for the people of Poniton but DepEd officials possibly decided to omit their school as it already has a new multi-purpose building that can be used as a classroom.
There is also the reality that the government, despite providing the education sector with the lion’s share of the 2024 national budget with the biggest allocation of P924 billion.
However, it must be noted that this funding is to be shared by DepEd with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the 116 state universities and colleges (SUCs).
This leaves DepEd with P758.6 billion, out of which the 2024 BEFF program will receive P33.8 billion for the construction of 7,879 new classrooms and technical vocational laboratories; repair and rehabilitation of 10,050 classrooms; procurement of 21,557 sets of school desks, furniture, and fixtures; electrification of 432 classrooms; and construction of 333 priority school health facilities, three medium-rise school buildings, 72 library hubs, 16 Inclusive Learning Resource Centers (ILRCs), and four Community Learning Centers (CLCs).
Just how many of these projects and equipment would be allocated to the province, only the DepEd Central Office probably knows.
It would be up to the two honorable representatives of Catanduanes, Cong. Eulogio Rodriguez andTGP Rep. Jose Teves Jr., to perform their duty of ensuring that their constituents get what they need from the national government, including funding for destroyed and damaged classrooms still unrepaired three years after ST Rolly.