Iligan City Higaonon receives DepEd IPs Educ program

By Jun Enriquez

Dr. Randolph Tortola, DepEd  Supt. of Iligan City give instruction to teachers applicants.

Iligan City (June 8, 2016) - Dr. Randolph Tortola, School Superintendent of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Iligan City said Two years ago, the education system for the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) have had already started in Iligan City and can be found in Binasan Elementary school, Sitio Binasan, Rogongon this City. On June 4, 2016, the DepEd national office launched the IPs school in Valencia City, Bukidnon with the presence of DepEd Secretary Luistro. Dr. Tortola said that there are three (3) additional IPs education school to be implemented in Rogongon and will be situated particular in the remote areas. A Interagency team have conducted site inspection composed of the Department of Education (DepEd), National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), Local Government Unit (LGU) among others. DepEd central office will provide teacher allocation so that Dr. Tortola can start the appointments of teachers. Tortola said that any IP teachers of Higaonon passed in licensure examination for teachers will be given priority because the medium of instruction use in school is Higaonon dialect in order to preserve the culture and tradition of the tribe. This program will be implemented this opening of the school year 2016-17.

At right, Datu Buddy Landong

Datu Buddy P. Landong, a Higaonon and the Provincial Officer of the NCIP provincial office based in Iligan City said that the project is under the Department Order (D.O.) No. 062, the IPs Educational system, to include Iligan City. Landong said that he attended the orientation for the project, the schoolbuildings for the said project is funded by the KALAHI of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). He confirmed that there are 4 schools to be implemented for the Higaonon in Rogongon. The Higaonon tribe is very strict in the enforcement of their traditional law. Datu Rey Soong, a Higaonon tribe and office staff of the NCIP iligan provincial office said that the First prior inform consent (FPIC) should be done before any project implementation must undergo the process of the FPIC. Soong said that there was no proper coordination Dr. Tortola is committed to undergo the FPIC process. Tortola said the DepEd office shall conduct consultation with the tribe to establish module to be used in the IPs school curriculum. He said that the DepEd office is in close coordination for the implementation of the project with Datu “Diamla” Rolando Soong, the IPs Mandatory Representative to the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) as City councilor. The establish module will also undergo FPIC before it will be used in the classroom.

Dr. Randolph Tortola

Dr. Tortola said that cultural songs and dances must be preserved including tribal celebrations such as the “Kaamulan” festival. The Higaonon cultural practices can also relate with the culture of others for co-existence and survival. The IPs educational system will have a regular budget for schoolbuilding construction, teachers, instructional materials and supplies.  This is part of the inclusive education to all school age children to include special children, People with disabilities (PWDs), Madrasah education for the Muslims, alternative learning system (ALS), kindergarten education with ages 5 years old.

Ritual during Tribal dialogue

After the Elementary education the graduates children will continue their High school education from grade 7 to 10 in Rogongon Agriculture National High School also a recipient of the senior high school and will open grade 11 for this school year. Per results of the survey, Agricultural technology is introduced to the students because Rogongon is an agricultural area. Livestock raising is one of the area of learning. The IP education system will give opportunity to the Higaonon children to develop and become competitive professionals. Dr. Tortola said about those IP graduates in education but did not have any teacher’s license can also teach base on their skills to be applied in the ALS on honorarium basis. Dr. Tortola said that the Brigada Eskwela was very successful. The education system including the IP education are ready for the opening of classes for the school year 2016-17.