The Schools Division Office (SDO) of Palawan received financial support and psychosocial interventions from the Department of Education (DepEd) Central Office through the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS).

DepEd, in a statement issued Monday, Feb. 21, said that it has provided the MIMAROPA region a total of P6.5 million to respond to the immediate needs of schools that suffered heavy non-infrastructure and infrastructure damages due to Typhoon Odette. This data is as of Feb. 15.

“We urgently deployed support in the schools and offices in Palawan as they were the hardest-hit province in the MIMAROPA region, according to our Rapid Assessment of Damages Report (RADaR),” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.

“We will ensure that our schools and their learners can return to a sense of normalcy as soon as possible,” she added.

In the allocated fund, P5.5 million will go to clean-up and minor repair activities of 274 schools in the Division of Palawan and Puerto Princesa City.

DepEd said that P1 million general support funds can be used for the provision of learners’ and teachers’ kits (with hygiene-related items), emergency school feeding, the conduct of Psychosocial First Aid (PFA), and other immediate needs as identified by the region.

Citing its data, DepEd said that a total of 460 teaching personnel are trained in PFA to address issues and concerns of learners and personnel experiencing psycho-emotional distress brought by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette.

PFA is currently ongoing for learners and personnel.

Meanwhile, the DepEd Quick Response and Recovery Team (QRRT) members, headed by the DRRMS, also visited the affected schools in Puerto Princesa City, the municipality of San Vicente, and Roxas Central District early this month.

During the visit, DepEd QRRT members verified the reported damages and further assessed its immediate needs and capacity critical for learning continuity and early recovery.

“Kaya kami bumababa dito sa field, para ma-prioritize na natin ano yung kailangan ninyo within the year at yung iba pa na pwedeng interventions (We went to the field so that we can prioritize what you need within the year and the other possible interventions),” said DRRMS Director Ronilda Co said during the exit conference of the QRRT field visit held at San Jose High School.

Co said that the visit also intends to determine how to further rationalize the use of the Quick Response Fund (QRF).

Moreover, Co encouraged the officials of SDO Palawan to “aggressively act and coordinate: with their focal persons in the regional office and the central office for immediate data collection and analysis, resource mobilization, and other response efforts which are vital for its early recovery and rehabilitation.

“Ang implementation ay nasa inyo, so kailangan natin ng matinding coordination (The implementation is up to you, so we need stronger coordination), Co said.

Co also underscored the urgency of finding out what were the critical damages in schools and the need to fix these as soon as possible to ensure that the learning continuity of students will not be disrupted any further.