The person who vandalized school property at an evacuation site in Muntinlupa during the height of severe tropical storm “Paeng” has apologized.

This was according to Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon who earlier took to social media to air his frustration over the destruction of a blackboard at Cupang Senior High School in Barangay Cupang.

The school was used as an evacuation site after the number of people that needed to be temporarily moved out of their homes during the storm increased.

However, Biazon was dismayed when he saw a blackboard in a classroom used by evacuees was destroyed. He posted photos of the destruction of school property on his Facebook account.

“Lungkot o galit...hindi ko alam ang nangingibabaw sa nararamdaman ko (Sadness or anger...I don’t know what is prevailing on what I feel),” he said.

On Nov. 3, Biazon held a live broadcast on Facebook to update about the incident.

The person who vandalized the blackboard was found and he met the mayor.

“Merong pananagutan dapat. May consequence pag may ginawa tayong mali (There should be liability. There is a consequence if we did something wrong),” said Biazon.

He said the person who vandalized the blackboard was a teenager who is an out-of-school youth.

The teenager was accompanied by his mother when he went to face the mayor and said he was sorry for what he did.

“Yung bata ay nangangailangan ng kalinga. Dahil siya ay menor de edad, ayaw nating lumala yung sitwasyon ng kanyang pagiging pasaway (The child needs care. Since the child is a minor, we don’t want the situation to worsen about his being stubborn),” said Biazon.

He added, “Siya ay nagsisisi sa kanyang ginawa. At sinabi namin siya ay kinakailangang magkaroon ng parang pananagutan sa pamamagitan ng community service (The child is sorry for what he did. And we told the child that he needed to face liability through community service).”

The community service will be done in barangay or school, he said.

The mayor said, “Pero most importantly, siya po ay nagcommit na magsisikap na bumalik ulit sa pag-aaral (But most importantly, the child committed to try to go back to schooling).”

The Division Office of the Department of Education-Muntinlupa promised to help bring back the child to school.

“Para sa akin po, lahat tayo ay may responsibilidad na tiyakin na ang ating mga kabataan ay lalaki ng responsable. Na sila ay matutong kumilala, na may papel silang ginagampanan sa ating lipunan (For me, we all have a responsibility to ensure that our youth will grow up responsible. For them to recognize that they have a role to play in our society),” said Biazon, who also encouraged parents to guide their children.

He said the Muntinlupa City government has been helping the youth in Muntinlupa through scholarships. There are 82,000 students who are scholars under the city government.

The mayor said the destruction of the school property was saddening but in the end, the youth should be guided.

“Yung eskwelahan dapat napapanatiling maayos, pinapangalagaan. Dapat yan ang values na maipasok natin sa mga kabataan (Schools should be maintained in good condition, taken care of. These are the values that should be instilled in the minds of the youth). Respect for other people’s property, respect for public property,” said Biazon.