17 teachers hailed for educating Dumagat folk
By Dino Balabo
(The Philippine Star)
May 22, 2011
By Dino Balabo
(The Philippine Star)
May 22, 2011
A Dumagat reads a newspaper in a huddle with fellow Dumagats at their settlement in Donya Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan. DINO BALABO| Zoom
MALOLOS CITY, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) has recognized the contributions of 17 educators who have been teaching members of the Dumagat tribe in the hinterlands of the Sierra Madre mountains.
“They are like religious missionaries who go to the mountains to care for indigenous peoples,” said Dr. Edna Zerrudo, division superintendent of DepEd-Bulacan.
A team of 17 teachers has been educating Dumagat tribesmen since the DepEd-Bulacan division opened an educational program for them in 1998.
Celestino Carpio, supervisor of non-formal education of DepEd-Bulacan, said the team has sacrificed physical comfort to fulfill their duties to the tribal folk.
They hold classes with 50 to 80 persons each in makeshift classrooms in various settlements in the Sierra Madre.
The team also has to stay in the settlements for a week or two before replenishing their supplies and obtaining new instructional materials.
“Teachers are called heroes, but our missionary teachers are the unsung heroes,” Carpio said. “They are not there just for the job, they keep on teaching the indigenous peoples because they love them and they are concerned.”
At present, the educators receive the same compensation as regular teachers, but Carpio said they are thinking of giving them extra allowance. Vergel Libunao, who was part of the first batch of 10 teachers hired in September 1998, admitted that he was at first thinking of staying on the job for only three years.
Thanks to these 17 teachers, Dumagats in the hinterlands of Sierra Madre learn how to read and write. DINO BALABO
“I admit that at first, I only wanted to get a job and planned that after three years, I would request to be transferred. It’s different now, though,” he said.
Libunao, 41, teaches in a settlement in Sitio Talamsi 2 in Barangay Kalawakan, Donya Remedios Trinidad town. It takes more than two hours to reach the settlement via motorcycle, and then three more hours on foot.
Libunao said they have become greatly concerned about the tribe.
“If we back out, there will be no one to replace us. We are needed in the mountains to pursue our mission to teach the children. Now, it’s not only the need for employment that pushes us, but our concern for the children,” he said.
Joel de la Paz, 38, and Nestor Alfonso, 36, who were also part of the first batch of teachers, said that after three years of teaching members of the tribe, they could have opted to be reassigned to other schools but decided to stay on.
De la Paz said the biggest danger he encountered was when
government troops engaged New People’s Army rebels who encamped at the Sitio Talamsi 1 settlement in January last year.
“I thought it would all end for me so I just prostrated myself inside,” he said, pointing to an old chapel converted into a classroom.
Ryan Villegas, who hails from San Luis town in Pampanga, said he had to endure the long travel to reach Sitio Basyo in Barangay Kabayunan.
He would sometimes hitch a ride with the service boat of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, which maintains the 13-kilometer Umiray Angat Transbasin project tunnel with an outlet in Sitio Macua.
Arlyn Lazaro, also among the first batch of educators, is working on the development of a culturally sensitive curriculum for Dumagat students.
“They are like religious missionaries who go to the mountains to care for indigenous peoples,” said Dr. Edna Zerrudo, division superintendent of DepEd-Bulacan.
A team of 17 teachers has been educating Dumagat tribesmen since the DepEd-Bulacan division opened an educational program for them in 1998.
Celestino Carpio, supervisor of non-formal education of DepEd-Bulacan, said the team has sacrificed physical comfort to fulfill their duties to the tribal folk.
They hold classes with 50 to 80 persons each in makeshift classrooms in various settlements in the Sierra Madre.
The team also has to stay in the settlements for a week or two before replenishing their supplies and obtaining new instructional materials.
“Teachers are called heroes, but our missionary teachers are the unsung heroes,” Carpio said. “They are not there just for the job, they keep on teaching the indigenous peoples because they love them and they are concerned.”
At present, the educators receive the same compensation as regular teachers, but Carpio said they are thinking of giving them extra allowance. Vergel Libunao, who was part of the first batch of 10 teachers hired in September 1998, admitted that he was at first thinking of staying on the job for only three years.
Thanks to these 17 teachers, Dumagats in the hinterlands of Sierra Madre learn how to read and write. DINO BALABO “I admit that at first, I only wanted to get a job and planned that after three years, I would request to be transferred. It’s different now, though,” he said.
Libunao, 41, teaches in a settlement in Sitio Talamsi 2 in Barangay Kalawakan, Donya Remedios Trinidad town. It takes more than two hours to reach the settlement via motorcycle, and then three more hours on foot.
Libunao said they have become greatly concerned about the tribe.
“If we back out, there will be no one to replace us. We are needed in the mountains to pursue our mission to teach the children. Now, it’s not only the need for employment that pushes us, but our concern for the children,” he said.
Joel de la Paz, 38, and Nestor Alfonso, 36, who were also part of the first batch of teachers, said that after three years of teaching members of the tribe, they could have opted to be reassigned to other schools but decided to stay on.
De la Paz said the biggest danger he encountered was when
government troops engaged New People’s Army rebels who encamped at the Sitio Talamsi 1 settlement in January last year.
“I thought it would all end for me so I just prostrated myself inside,” he said, pointing to an old chapel converted into a classroom.
Ryan Villegas, who hails from San Luis town in Pampanga, said he had to endure the long travel to reach Sitio Basyo in Barangay Kabayunan.
He would sometimes hitch a ride with the service boat of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, which maintains the 13-kilometer Umiray Angat Transbasin project tunnel with an outlet in Sitio Macua.
Arlyn Lazaro, also among the first batch of educators, is working on the development of a culturally sensitive curriculum for Dumagat students.
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