Abra executive seeks to delay school opening

SAFE SPACE Baguio City health officials, government engineers and firefighters inspect dormitories and boarding homes in preparation for the school’s opening. While Baguio was devastated by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in 1990, it was not damaged by the 7-magnitude earthquake that struck the city of Abra and its neighboring counties last month. —EV ESPIRITU

BAGUYO CITY – Mayors of Abra County on Thursday asked Interior Minister Benjamin Abalus Jr. to suspend the August 22 school opening across the county given the state of their towns after last month’s 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

In an interview with Appalos in Abra, the epicenter of the earthquake, La Paz Mayor Joseph Bernos said the school opening should be delayed by a month to give them time to repair the damaged schools.

Bernos said about 675 school buildings were damaged by the earthquake in the county.

Earlier Wednesday, Bernus’ wife, Representative Abra Menshee Burnos, asked the House Special Committee’s hearing on the North Luzon Growth Region to postpone a scheduled return to in-person classes in the county.

The lawmaker raised the same concern during a meeting with Department of Education (DepEd) officials on Wednesday, said Estella Carreño, director of DepEd at Cordillera.

Read: Schools in quake-hit Cordillera to hold lessons remotely, elsewhere

But DepEd assured Representative Bernos that Abra’s students and teachers will be given enough time to adjust before and after schools open as planned, Cariño told The Inquirer in a text message Wednesday.

“Classes will start by August 22, but not necessarily in person for severely affected people (from the earthquake) and not necessarily as academic classes [right away]“Psychological first aid can be given first,” Carino said.

Psychological health

The Department of Health (DOH) is overseeing mental health treatments for Abra residents, especially children, who may have been traumatized by the powerful earthquake that also shook the neighboring Cordillera counties of Kalinga and Mountain County, according to Dr. Rio Magpantai, director of DOH in Cordillera.

Cariño said Abra’s teachers will begin the semester by assessing the “learning levels” of their students, who have spent the previous two school years at home watching lessons broadcast online and on TV, and completing modules or activity booklets due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

In an earlier briefing on August 2, Carino said students may start a hybrid distance education class if the earthquake destroys their schools.

Affected schools with classrooms that are safe for occupancy may host single classes but are reinforced with hybrid classes as a precaution, while schools that are fully operational may receive students displaced by the earthquake if they have additional rooms.

Read: See Through: Abra Earthquake’s Destructive Impact

The deputy mayor of Villaviciosa in Abra, Marjorie Lajean, said two of their schools were used as temporary evacuation facilities.

During the same meeting with Appalos, 16 Abra mayors and two deputy mayors, Lagen said these schools were also damaged but were housing 14 families from two landslide-prone villages.

She said about a hundred residents of these communities would need to be resettled.

“So, what do we prioritize – housing the evacuees or [in-person classes]? ‘ asked the team.

She also noted that evaluations of school buildings made by different agencies had contradictory results.

Infrared damage

The July 27 earthquake, traced to the movement of the Abra River fault, left infrastructure damage of up to 801 million pesos throughout the Cordillera.

Abra alone will need £607m to rebuild damaged or destroyed roads, bridges and government buildings, according to an estimate prepared by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on 8 August.

The Ministry of Housing and Rural Development said that three resettlement projects are being developed in the towns of Abra in Benarubia, Tium and Bocay.

Read: Abra earthquake damage now over 1.8 billion pesos; Agriculture affected by more than 56 million pesos

The Department of Public Health and Housing said Mountain County, which was also among the worst affected, would need £131.8 million to restore damaged infrastructure.

In Baguio City, authorities have begun inspecting temporary homes and boarding homes to determine their safety in preparation for the school’s opening.

Baguio was devastated by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in 1990, but no major damage was reported by the earthquake that struck North Luzon last month.

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