By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday clarified that decision regarding the suspended permits to operate of 55 Lumad schools in Davao Region is “not yet final” should they are able to comply with the show cause order and other requirements based on the guidelines set by the agency.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones
(DEPED / MANILA BULLETIN)
Education Secretary Leonor Briones, in a press conference, explained that the main reason for suspending the permits to operate of the schools owned by Salugpungan Ta’Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Centers is that they failed to comply with the requirements set by the DepEd.
“This has been going on for quite some time now,” Briones said – noting that every year, the DepEd and the concerned schools go through dialogue and negotiation when it comes to the issuance of permits to operate. “Every year, we tell them to comply and they fail to do so,” she added. In fact, she revealed that some of these schools were given “conditional permits” which allowed them to operate before the suspension order was finally issued last week.
Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan explained that while the suspension order was issued to 55 schools, only about 22 schools are affected. “Some of these schools have been closed even before the suspension order was issued due to lack of students, among others,” he said.
Earlier, the DepEd Region XI issued the suspension order to the affected Lumad schools based on the recommendation of National Security Adviser (NSA) Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. who alleged that these schools are teaching left-leaning ideologies.
Initially, five days were given to the school system to refute allegations that they have links to the communist rebel movement. Malaluan noted that the DepEd Region XI has extended the deadline given to the Salugpungan to comply with the show cause order.
“We believe that we should wait first before we fully discuss the matter,” Malaluan said. “As I said, it is not a final decision because the final determination would rest on the weighing of all the facts that would be recorded once they comply with the show cause order,” he added.
No Disruption
Meanwhile, Briones assured that the education of the affected learners in these schools will not be disrupted. Thus, nearby schools have been instructed to absorb or accept learners that might have been displaced due to the suspension order.
“We have public schools nearby and we asked them to accept these learners and waive documentary requirements to ensure that their education will continue,” Briones said. Data from DepEd Region XI showed that at least 1, 142 learners are affected in the 55 schools. However, Malaluan clarified that this number might be reduced since some of the schools have been closed down long ago due to lack of enrollees and other internal issues.
While the recommendation of the NSA has been a contributing factor in the suspension of permits for the 55 Lumad schools, Briones stressed that there were other reasons why DepEd has decided to temporarily suspend their permits to operate.
“It’s not as of the findings of the NSA is the sole source of information we have,” Briones said – noting that that agency has directed its local officials in concerned regions to do their own research. “We have knowledge based on our research and from our people, we talked to them personally and we have officially verified some of the initial findings that they had,” she added.
Amid all the controversies that hound the suspended operations of the Lumad schools, Briones cautioned against “generalizing” the issue. “We have 2.6 million IP learners nationwide and we don’t have problems with the majority of them,” she said.
‘All-Time Low’
Meanwhile, the Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK), which identifies itself as a youth organization aiming to “educate and mobilize the youth in widening its democratic rights and empower them to counter all forms of oppression and capitalist exploitation,” strongly condemned the DepEd’s move to suspend the operations of the Lumad schools.
SPARK slammed the DepEd on the “unfounded allegations that these were seedbeds of the insurgency.” According to SPARK Spokesperson Shara Mae Landicho, the DepEd has reached an “all-time low for allowing itself to be a tool for the fascist machinations of the Duterte administration and is consequently denying Lumad children their innate right and access to basic education.”
For the group, instead of treating Salugpungan as “partners in the noble deed of educating the marginalized youth in far-flung communities,” it is the DepEd that is “easing them out when they have no personnel and facilities in these communities –miserably failing in their mandate despite the increase of allocation from the national budget.”