RTC orders 2,000 pupils’ transfer
BAYAMBANG MAYOR VS. DEPED
BAYAMBANG—In the midst of the conflict between the mayor here and the Department of Education (DepEd) Pangasinan I Division over the Bayambang 1 Central School, the children and their parents have been made to suffer.
This situation arose after the Regional Trial Court (RTC) issued a ruling last week which effectively relocated some 2,000 pupils of Bayambang 1 Central School to a new two-storey school building reportedly built by a businessman some one kilometer west of the current school compound.
Judge Hermogenes Fernandez of Branch 56 RTC in San Carlos City issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on October 7 against Pangasinan I Division Superintendent Alma Ruby Torio, Danilo Lopez, school principal, and all officials under his authority from defying the implementation of the executive order of the town mayor.
The mayor previously ordered the transfer of the students to the new building, without consulting with the DepEd, citing several reasons such as the proliferation of dengue-carrying mosquitoes in the compound and the destruction of one building last year due to fire.
It will be recalled that the controversy was earlier marked by a fire that gutted the iconic Gabaldon Building inside the school compound. Teachers and parents suspected arson to force the early transfer of the pupils.
Except for a few who were prevailed upon by their parents, most of the students complied with the transfer order.
The school has an enrollment of 1,980 pupils from Grades I to VI and 273 in the kindergarten program.
One Grade IV pupil whom The PUNCH interviewed said she stayed behind per the advice of her mother who cited inability to afford the transport fares to the new school site.
The Municipality of Bayambang represented by Mayor Ricardo Camacho filed a civil suit against the DepEd officials for refusing to move the students.
The local government claims ownership of the lot where the school is situated.
A document obtained by The PUNCH shows that this claim is based from a paper issued by the Estados Unidos De America; Islas Filipinas, Tribunal Del Registro De La Propriedad to Reserva Militar dated May 25, 1912 signed by Charles Smith, Juez del Tribunal, Registro de La Propriedad.
Camacho previously issued Executive Order No. 25 ordering the temporary and immediate transfer of all students, teachers and personnel of Bayambang 1 Central School from its present location to its proposed location in Barangay Magsaysay where a new school building, with desks and a chairs provided and a covered court at the back, was already built for them.
The brand new school building was reportedly built by a Dagupan businessman named William Chua, owner of the land.
Lopez said he is not certain whether the new school building will eventually be owned by DepEd even as he deduced that the transfer will only be temporary.
LAND SWAP?
Torio reportedly already went to Manila to inform DepEd Central Office about the situation and to ask for help.
Parents have also called on DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro to intervene on the matter.
Meanwhile, members of the Parents Teachers and Community Association appear divided on the issue with seven officers led by Alex Medrano, president, in favor of the transfer of the pupils and six others are against.
Nelson De Vera Borillo, PTCA auditor and spokesman of the oppositors, said he and the other parents see no valid reason to transfer the pupils, and they suspect that a deal to swap the three-hectare school lot to the more than two-hectare lot in Barangay Magsaysay where the brand new school building stands is in the works.
Borillo also asserted that the municipal government can not just transfer the pupils to anywhere it wants without the imprimatur of DepEd central office.
Filipinas Alcantara, one of the parents keeping watch at the now abandoned premises of the Bayambang I Central School, said DepEd Central office must intervene since it appears the school lot is being swapped with another property without its consent.
There are rumors that the old school site is being eyed as a location for a shopping mall to compete with CSI Mall across the road.
Some placards posted by the protesting parents and teachers on the old campus read: “Sa DepEd kami susunod, hindi kay mayor“, and “Ang Bayambang ay para sa mga taga Bayambang, hindi para sa mga dayuhan.”
The parents said they have to keep watch on the old school compound after the transfer of the students as there are fears that the whole area could be torched.
The parents said that they are also cleaning the premises in response to the threat of dengue cited by the mayor as one of the justifications for the transfer.—with report from Eva Visperas
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