Bill separating, creating Mt Province schools pass Congress committee level

By Erlindo Agwilang

QUEZON CITY -- Four House bills seeking creation and separation of schools in Mountain Province was approved by the House Committee Education recently at the House of Representatives.

House Bills 729, 734 and 735 seek to separate Guinzadan National High School-Mayag Extension, Lubon National High School-Mabalite Extension and Guina-ang National High School-Mainit Extension from their respective mother schools.  These Extension Schools are located several kilometers away from their respective mother schools and had been in existence for 14, eight and six years.

If the Mayag Extension in the municipality of Bauko will be converted into an independent national high school, it will be known as Mayag National High School while the extension in Mabalite in the municipality of Tadian will become Mabalite National High School. Correspondingly, the Mainit Extension in the municipality of Bontoc will be known as Mainit National High School. 

In his sponsorship speech, Dalog bared that before the establishment of the extension schools, students had to walk several kilometers for 45 minutes to an hour and a half considering the terrain and weather conditions of Mountain Province just so they could attend classes in the nearest public high school.  “This resulted to either a lot of students who drop out in the middle of the school year or students who do not perform well,” he said.

“Considering the role of education in spurring development, the separation of these schools from their mother schools would definitely enhance their capability to fulfill their mandate and contribute to the overall development of not only the residents in the area concerned but also the province as a whole,” he added.

Meanwhile, House Bill 736 entitled, An Act Establishing an Elementary School in Barangay Bacarri, Municipality of Paracelis, to be known as the Wellie Maclinic Elementary School, is a re-filed bill from the 17th Congress.  It was approved on third reading by the House of Representatives but due to lack of time, it did not reach the plenary deliberations at the Senate. 

Dalog in an interview said it had always been the clamor of the residents of Barangay Bacarri that an elementary school be established to serve the sitios of Dabburab, Camuan, Makilo, Danggason and Pandan which are located about 5-10 kilometers from Dalanao Elementary School, the nearest elementary school in the area.

According to Dalog, the establishment of an elementary school catering to the aforementioned sitios will definitely help liberate the residents of barangay Bacarri and the neighboring barangays from the shackles of poverty and ignorance by catering to their educational needs. 

The separation and establishment of said schools from their mother institutions will enable each of them to receive a regular budget for their operations which will be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.