Damage to schools, DepEd assets reaches P552M

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Classrooms and various properties owned by the Department of Education (DepEd) sustained damages amounting to P552 million during the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy.

This was announced by Education Secretary Jesli Lapus during a press conference on Monday shortly before addressing teachers and school officials in the Davao region for the regional education summit at the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao.

Lapus said damages to classrooms amounted to P344,192,840 while damages to other DepEd properties such as textbooks, desks, computers and other equipment reached P206,096,062.

During Typhoon Ondoy, for instance, 1,008 schools were damaged and another 242 were being used as temporary shelters for 34,087 evacuees, said Lapus.

The DepEd has yet to assess the effect of Typhoon Pepeng, which hit Northern Luzon.

“Imagine this damage of P550 million, and this is not in the budget,” Lapus said.

He said the rehabilitation of classrooms to be used immediately would be the urgent aim to reduce the negative impact of the disaster to the schoolchildren.

Government disaster agencies have agreed to the proposal of Lapus to use public facilities like gymnasiums and stadiums to house the victims of disasters such as flash floods and typhoons.

“Rather than use the schools immediately, [members of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC)] agreed to use these facilities first. That’s what they are also using in the US,” Lapus said.

Gymnasiums, stadiums and covered courts have better roofing and facilities like restrooms, and they could accommodate more people, he said.

“The government can also easily conduct relief and distribution and other services, like dental and medical missions in these government structures,” he said.

He said schools should be spared from being “penalized” in situations of evacuees fleeing disaster areas.

Classes just opened yesterday and some evacuees have moved to covered courts and gymnasiums.

“That’s in the National Capital Region [NCR] only because we are still assessing the extent of damage of Pepeng in the north,” he added.

As a consequence of the big number of damaged schools and those used as evacuation center, the DepEd has directed holding of classes on Saturdays, and to use the last week of October to continue classes instead of using them for “in-service training.”

“The last week of October is often misunderstood as a semestral break,” he said. “But no, it’s being used for in-service training.”

The NCR and Calabarzon were the most affected by Typhoon Ondoy, with the NCR accounting for P286 million damages and dislodging 19,402 from their homes and seeking refuge in schools. Calabarzon sustained damages of P211 million and is currently housing 12,352 evacuees.