- jobal wrote:
- no haan u pai nabasa, daytoy t damag d napalabas nga domingo.
[url=http://www.baguiomidlandcourier.com.ph/front.asp?mode=archives/2009/august/8-2-2009/front5.txt
http://www.baguiomidlandcourier.com.ph/front.asp?mode=archives/2009/august/8-2-2009/front5.txt[/quote[/url]]Town schools set to vacate ‘danger’ zone
by Jimmy Laking
The principal of the Mankayan National High School (MNHS) told the provincial board last week that the school was set to evacuate the school grounds at the first hint of imminent danger.
“If worse comes to worst, we have arranged for the Lepanto high schools to accommodate our students and pupils,” said Pablo Khayog, principal of the MNHS.
He said that once the plan is implemented, Mankayan schools will use the Lepanto school buildings from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m with Lepanto students using the remainder of the day for their classes.
He conceded that the plan would be an additional burden to the pa-rents of the students and pupils.
The Mankayan schools have 720 high school students and 600 pupils in the elementary grades.
Khayog said the Mankayan school grounds are located inside a hazardous area and is near a critical one. He said some pupils have been relocated in nearby buildings. “Some students have transferred elsewhere but the majority are staying,” he said.
Mankayan municipal officials led by Manalo Galuten and Paterno Dacanay assured the board that they are currently on the look-out for an area to relocate the school.
They said several possible sites have been pinpointed all in Barangay Poblacion. They added that they were banking on assistance from the national government to provide the funds in purchasing a relocation site since the municipality does not have enough funds.
At the same time, the municipal officials said they were set to engage the services of independent geologists to get at the bottom of the Mankayan sinking. They said that Lepanto Mines has denied that it was mining that caused the area to sink but that they also believed otherwise.
The provincial board, chaired by vice governor Cresencio Pacalso, indicated that the provincial government can provide assistance to the municipality from the five percent calamity fund.
Board member Florence Tingbaoen pressed the immediate evacuation of the school grounds while board member Johnny Uy urged local officials “not to wait for worse to become worst” before acting on the situation.
Galuten said a ground subsidence that struck Barangay Colalo more than 10 years ago collapsed several school buildings and led to the death of one resident whose body was never found.
Mankayan officials estimated that the cost for relocating the schools would amount to a total of P83 million or even more.