Jayvee Tyron L. Uy, Compostela Valley Province Governor.
Jayvee Tyron L. Uy, Compostela Valley Province Governor.

Comval guv backs Salugpungan suspension



COMPOSTELA Valley Province Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy backed the decision of the Department of Education (DepEd) on suspending the operation of Salugpongan Ta'tanu Igkanugon Community (Salugpungan) for allegedly teaching anti-government ideologies, claiming that the institution didn't communicate with them.

“We express our support to the suspension order issued by the Department of Education-XI to the schools operated by the Salugpungan Ta Tanu Igkanogon. For their ten years of existence in Compostela Valley, the school’s administration had not consulted the local governments in the province,” Uy said in a statement on Friday posted on the Facebook page of the Philippine News Agency 11- Compostela Valley.

Uy added that they have noted several violations committed by the organization and its organizers.

“As governor and former Chair of the Regional Peace and Order Council 11, we also received complaints on the failure of these schools to secure free, prior and informed consents (FPIC’s) from the communities where they operate, as mandated by the Indigenous People’s Rights Act,” he further said.

Earlier, DepEd 11 issued a suspension order to Salugpungan and its affiliates after reviewing the reports from National Security Adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr. that Salugpungan has been using students in rallies and teaching them ideologies against the government, as stated by Melvin Mansaloon Loyod, a former school volunteer teacher.

On May this year, a Salugpongan School, accused to be teaching communist ideology, was demolished by the communities through a resolution to give way for a new two-classroom school building in Sitio Putting Bato, Ngan, Compostela, Compostela Valley.

Prior to the demolition, a school building which costs around P1.2 million was turned over to the community. This is seen to address the problem of lack of school facilities in the far-flung areas and provide them a conducive learning environment. The local government likewise hired two licensed teachers to facilitate the classes.

“In the part of the Provincial Government, we exert our fullest efforts to ensure that our IP communities have access to quality education.

Through the convergence of different stakeholders and the communities themselves, we successfully completed new classrooms serving our IP children in two of the province’s far-flung communities- in Sitio Puting Bato in Ngan and Sitio Side 4 in Mangayon, Compostela," Uy said.

He added, "These we do to fulfill our shared vision of keeping every child in school and that no one will be left behind."

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