HEAVY DAMAGE The four-story, 20-classroom building used by senior high school students of Candon National High School in Candon City is among the structures heavily damaged in Ilocos Sur province when a magnitude 7 earthquake struck northern Luzon on Wednesday morning. 鈥擫EONCIO BALBIN JR.
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Department of Education (DepEd) has asked for an additional fund of P16 billion to repair schools damaged by calamities, including those affected by the recent strong quake that shook Northern Luzon and Typhoons Odette and Agaton that struck last year.
DepEd spokesman Michael Poa lamented that the department鈥檚 quick response funds, which amounts to about P2 billion a year, are not enough to address all damage sustained from natural calamities, which in turn results in backlogs of repairs.
鈥淲e have funds for quick response pero hindi siya kasya because the quick response funds we鈥檙e only usually given to DepEd is mga P2 billion a year and this is definitely not enough,鈥� he said in an interview over ABS-CBN 黑料社 Channel on Wednesday.
鈥淎lthough some repairs were done, hindi siya natatapos because talagang kulang sa funds and then nagpapatong patong siya,鈥� Poa added.
(Although some repairs were done, it鈥檚 not usually finished due to lack of funds, then it overlaps with other repairs needed.)
Poa said that the DepEd would need about P16 billion to repair schools damaged by Typhoons Odette and Agaton and another P1.7 billion to repair those damaged by the earthquake in Abra and other areas.
He said the department has already asked for P16 billion in additional funding for repairs for this year.
鈥淩ight now, we have already asked the President through the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) for additional funding of P16 billion to augment the current funds for quick intervention for areas affected by Odette, Agaton and hopefully even the quake-affected areas,鈥� the DepEd spokesman said.
Poa said that the P16-billion augmentation is targeted to be used only for this year.
Temporary learning spaces
The DepEd is planning to put up temporary learning spaces for schools damaged by the earthquake and even those that sustained damage from the two typhoons last year.
Poa said that one of these would cost around P180,000 to P200,000 and are made out of light materials.
He, however, said that DepEd is still determining how many temporary learning spaces it would put up as the tally of damaged schools due to the earthquake 鈥渒eep on going up.鈥�
Poa said the number of damaged schools due to the earthquake has already reached 276, which is a far cry from the 35 initially recorded a day after the quake hit.
DepEd is also considering using tents for the temporary learning spaces, saying it can be reused if needed.
鈥淯sually what we do is we use those light materials but the problem is once the schools are repaired, sometimes in certain localities, those temporary learning spaces are made permanent. They鈥檙e just there, it鈥檚 such an eyesore,鈥� Poa said.
鈥淪o we are also considering [using tents], although we have to study this if tents are in fact viable for the students because with tents, after using them, you can actually store them and reuse them when needed,鈥� he added.
RELATED STORY:
鈥榃e鈥檙e in quicksand鈥�: VP Duterte says P1.4B needed to repair quake-damaged schools