Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin (left) and Bataan 1st district Rep. Geraldine Roman (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin and Bataan 1st district Rep. Geraldine Roman aren't thrilled with the prospect of schoolchildren spending their Saturdays in class.

The two lady lawmakers aired their sentiments against this plan of the Department of Education (DepEd) during a press conference Tuesday, May 14.

"The issue is, babalik tayo doon sa lumang school calendar (we're going back to the old school calendar). But in order to catch up, the plan of DepEd is to have Saturday classes," noted Garin, a deputy majority leader in the House of Representatives.

"Ang problema kasi doon, yung Sabadong iyon, dagdag pamasahe iyon sa mga magulang na maghahatid sa kanilang mga anak," she said.

(The problem with that is, that Saturday represents an additional cost for parents who have to bring their children to school).

Garin, former Department of Health (DOH) secretary, said Saturday classes will also affect the normal activities at school that otherwise wouldn't be disrupted.

She said there's actually a "simple solution" to DepEd's problem with catching up on precious school days.

"I am not amenable to having Saturday classes in order to catch-up but I am proposing before the [DepEd] to do away with unnecessary holidays, to do away with many other activities that actually takes away academic hours among the students," she said.

"We also have a lot of festivals and I’m very supportive on those festivals' kaya lang minsan ang daming extra-curricular activities ng school pero nawawalan ng pasok, kinukulang yung school days. There should be a balance between the academe and personality development," explained Garin.

(Sometimes schools have many extra-curricular activities, classes get suspended, and in the end school days become scare.)

Roman had a similar opinion about DepEd Saturday classes.

"Honestly, ako (for me), I'm of the belief that our children also need time with their
families and also for mental health. It's a balance of leisure and sports and studies," she said.

At any rate, the Bataan solon says she agrees with the move to revert to the old school calendar.

"The reason why we try to adapt this new calendar [is] to more or less to synchronize with other countries around the world, but of course, they do not have the nuisances of climate that we do here in the Philippines.

"So personally, I’m in favor of reverting back to the old calendar. Dyan kami lumaki, maraming henerasyon ang lumaki dyan at wala namang masamang nangyari po (We grew up on that, so did many other generations, and nothing bad ever happeneded to us)," Roman, chairperson of the Committee on Women and Gender Equality, said.