A GRADE 7 student of a public high school in Davao City was rushed to the hospital the other week for injuries sustained when upperclass students ganged up on him.
In a message to SunStar Davao through Facebook, Maribeth Morado reported that her child, Peter Morado, was allegedly beaten up by a group of students outside Davao City National High School (DCNHS) on March 15, 2018.
The boy had to undergo surgery for his injuries.
"Ang dahilan na tripan lang daw siya. Tong nagkulata sa akoang anak 15 years old ug 16 years old. Na storya na sa akoang bana ang ilahang mga ginikanan (He was mauled for no reason other than that the group took fancy on him. Those who ganged up on him are 15 years old and 16 years old. My husband already talked to the parents of those kids)," she said in a chat message to SunStar Davao.
Morado, an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Tajikistan, also claimed that despite the incident happening right outside the school, the security personnel did not make any move to help her son.
"Bakit yung guard diyan sa DCNHS gipabayaan lang akoang anak nga nangayo og tabang nila? (How come the guards at DCNHS did not help my son even when he cried for help)?" she said.
All that the guards did was tell his son to get back at those who mauled him.
"Sakit sa akoa nga akoang anak sir nagka buang na saka sakit sa iyahang gibati nakuyapan na siya sir wala gihapon nila gitabangan sir dili mana maayos sir. Gi ingnan lang nga resbaki dong kay dili naka maka balos ana tama ba gd na?” she asked.
(It hurts that my son was in pain and he even fainted but the guards did not help him. They merely told him to get back at them because you will no longer have any opportunity to do so after. Is that even right?)
A school official revealed that the guards did not assist because the incident happened outside the campus. When asked why the guards did not lift a finger even when the incident was in full view, the school official merely assured that they will investigate.
Morado said her husband has already tried to reach out to the City Mayor's Office to ask for financial assistance.
"Pero nag storya na daw sila sa mama atong isa nga nagkulata sa akoang anak (My husband and the mother of one of the kids who ganged up my son already talked)," she said, adding that the mother has also given them P4,000 for financial assistance.
Expressing distress because she is far away, Morado was questioning the inaction of the guards whom she identified as Adel and Bobong.
Meanwhile, DCNHS confirmed the incident but refused to provide any other details.
"Initial reports that we have received indicated that the incident indeed happened on March 15, 2018. But, considering the gravity of the issue, we still have to conduct further investigation and that at the moment, we cannot issue other details of the incident," said Jed I. Bete, DCNHS school media relations officer in an official statement.
"We would like to assure everyone that Davao City National High School adheres to the issuances and orders of the Department of Education with regards to cases involving students," he added.