Among the graduates was a 21-year old mother

BURAUEN, Leyte – A school in an upland village here, which was built to help curb the high dropout rate in the village and neighboring areas, held on Friday(April 5) its first ever recognition ceremony -10 months after it was opened to students from indigent families.
All 90 students of the Buraburon National High School in Tagadtaran village came to witness the recognition of their 19 classmates, who completed Grades 7 and 8 with honors.
The school used its old makeshift room as the venue.
“This is historic since this is the very first recognition in our school. We want to honor parents and all stakeholders who worked together to help fulfill the dreams of these children,” school principal Adolfo Raga told parents and learners, who packed the old makeshift room made of coconut lumber, bamboo, and corrugated sheets.
The makeshift hall used to be the classrooms of students for several months last year before the completion of a three-classroom building funded by the local government.
One of the achievers was Grade 7 completer Roselyn Dagsa, 21, who, in most schools days, attended classes with her two-year-old daughter, Honeylyn, in tow.
The tiring daily grind of this young mother is overshadowed by her ambition to become a police officer someday.
“I am very happy to complete one year in junior high school. It’s a long way to go, but I believe I am getting closer to achieving my dream,” Dagsa said.
She stopped her studies after graduating elementary in 2012. Extreme poverty, early marriage, and distance to the nearest high school from their upland village barred her from pursuing secondary education.
She spends about P100 daily for a 30-minute single motorcycle ride to get to school, passing through hilly and bumpy roads from their village in Villa Corazon. The transportation cost is double if she would enroll at the town center.
Her story, published by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Sept. 12, 2018, was shared 425 times by netizens, earning praises for her perseverance.
Dagsa’s classmate, Regine Manidlangan, 17, is the class’ top student, earning a general average grade of 96. In most occasions, she represented their school in English and Mathematics competitions.
“I might be out of school after elementary if there’s no high school campus close to our village, since it is very expensive to study at the town center,” said Manidlangan, whose father earns about P200 daily as a motorcycle driver.
Her village in Anonang is about 18 kms. upland from the town center. The distance from her house to the new campus is just 5 kms.
Department of Education head teacher and scout leader Elma Raga-Seno, the event’s keynote speaker, told students not to let their impoverished situation stop them from achieving a brighter tomorrow.
“My high school and college education was supported by my widowed mother. My father died when I was young, passing the responsibility to our mother to feed 10 children. The situation was very discouraging, but I overcame all the obstacles,” Seno told students.
Teacher Jason Canales said that through establishing a school in a remote area, children living in upland villages do not have to go down to the town center, thus increasing their chances of completing the school year.
“Children no longer miss classes in most days even if they help their parents tend their farms since the school is closer to the communities,” Canales added.
Several groups have been extending help to the students after the PNA posted a story sharing the plight of students who walk for several kilometers to get to school each day.
Private individuals donated rain coats, umbrellas, uniforms, bags, and school supplies to encourage students to enroll. The school expects enrollment to double by June with new elementary graduates.
The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation committed to provide two sacks of rice daily for children, whose parents have no capability to provide packed lunch. (SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

TACLOBAN CITY- Political veteran Juan Ponce Enrile said that his ripe age,94, is something that does not bother him at all now that he is seeking for another possible Senate seat in this year’s midterm elections.
Enrile was in Eastern Visayas, particularly in Catbalogan City in Samar, and Tacloban City in Leyte on Friday to campaign.
During his speech on Friday night before a small group of his supporters, mostly local businessmen and city candidates held at the Romualdez-owned Patio Victoria, the former Senate president brushed off his age as a hindrance for him to win another Senate seat.
He said that if elected, he might just go down in the world’s political history as the oldest man ever elected into office, betting Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohammad who is younger by a year.
“I am still strong and standing and fully aware of the political environment,” he said in his speech, debunking perceptions that his old age is catching him up.
Enrile was elected multiple times as a senator. The last time he was elected at the Senate was during the 2010 elections but failed to finish his six-year term as he was ousted from the Senate in 2014 after he was implicated in the pork barrel scam.
He was released on bail the following year due to health reason.
During his speech that lasted less than 15 minutes, Enrile enumerated the various Cabinet posts he held, particularly during the time of strongman Ferdinand Marcos and what he intend to do once elected like addressing poverty, security, and problems on communications and electricity.
Enrile, running as an independent candidate, if elected, would serve a six-year term and would stand down at the age of 100.
“I will be the oldest politician ever elected (and entered) the Guinness Book of World Records,” he said.
He, however, said that it’s not for this distinction why he is running saying that the country is still facing lots of problems that he could help address them.
“Nagawa ko na lahat ang dapat gawin pero ang bayan natin ay parang isang tao yan. Walang edad yan. It goes in time and it meets problems all the time as it marches into history. It is never without any problem in different magnitude,” he said.
According to him every Filipino who has something to contribute to the country should run for public office and help problems ailing the country.
“(But) if the people will not like me to participate, I will respect that and if they want me to contribute, I will do it,” he said.
Enrile, who is wearing a hearing aid, said that he is happy that in his barnstorming across the country, he gets warm welcome, to include among the millennials.
Asked why, he smiled and said perhaps they are intrigue why he is still running at his age.
“One thing I can tell you; the reaction of the people everywhere I go is very warm, just like here in Leyte and Samar. The young people are warmer to me,” Enrile said.
He also shrugged off various surveys showing out among possible losers, saying he never been surveyed in his entire life. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

CATBALOGAN CITY- The New People’s Army (NPA) in the region has suffered a major blow as they failed to successfully carry out their attack on a police station in Victoria, Northern Samar.
Thus said Major General Raul Farnacio, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division, based this city.
What made the failure doubly frustrating to the rebels was it happened while they were to celebrate their 50th founding anniversary, Farnacio said.
The NPA observed their founding anniversary on March 29.
To recall, about 80 NPA rebels attacked the police station in Victoria on March 28 but was frustrated by 15 policemen, led by their chief of police, Lt. Eladio Alo, who engaged them to a two hour gun battle.
This resulted to the death of three rebels and the captured of three others.
At least two policemen were hurt during the predawn attack.
Farnacio said that the NPA rebels further suffered defeat with the surrender of a top rank rebel leader in Leyte.
He said that ‘Ka Bayong’ of the Apoy Platoon, informed them that more rebels are planning to surrender and return to the folds of the law and want to avail the program of the government for those who want to surrender.
“What we can assure the public is that members of the Philippine Army is always ready and willing to do what is necessary for the triumph of the government,” Farnacio said.
The region’s top Army official also said that their forces are further augmented with the return of their forces earlier assigned in Mindanao and Negros and the assignment of the elite force of the Philippine National Police, Special Action Force, to the region.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is hoping to improve its budget utilization rate for Eastern Visayas projects this year despite bottlenecks that are out of the agency’s control.
DPWH Regional Director Nerie Bueno said they have mapped out plans to fast-track spending this year after seeing reports that only P17.32 billion or 41.95 percent of the P42.64 billion allotment last year has been disbursed as of Dec. 31, 2018. The figure is way below than the 70 percent to 75 percent ideal budget utilization rate.
“The regional office is fully aware of the problem and we have to address it in 2019. We don’t want to commit the same mistakes over and over again,” Bueno told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday.
Although P41.29 billion or 96.84 percent of the 2018 outlay has been obligated, actual disbursement remains low due to some factors considered by DPWH as out of their control.
These include bad weather, insufficient workforce provided by the contractors, road right of way acquisition issues, difficulty on transportation of construction materials and scheduling of equipment, peace and order problem in Samar Island, and repeated bidding failures.
“Some contractors are not interested to build infrastructure in remote areas because they have many choices with a lot of projects being rolled out under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program. Road right of way problem is major setback since we have to talk to people and deal with a lot of legal issues,” Bueno added.
Last year, the region completed 716 out of the 1,040 regular projects listed under the 2018 General Appropriations Act. Some 271 projects were ongoing while 52 others have not yet started as of Dec. 31, 2018, according to DPWH records.
To curb project delays in the future, the department has started pre-detailed engineering activities as early as first quarter of 2019 for projects programmed in 2020.
For 2019, the DPWH is eyeing a P27.62 billion budget under the 2019 National Expenditure Program. The proposal went up to P61.11 billion in 2020.
No single project for 2019 has started its construction this year due to pending approval of the 2019 budget bill after months of budget deadlock as Senate and House of Representatives failed to reach consensus.
The 2019 proposed budget has been submitted to the President for scrutiny but Malacañang could not say when it will be signed.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)