More Marawi schools reopen
LANAO DEL SUR – More students in Marawi returned to their classrooms as 12 more schools that were affected by the fighting between Maute militants and government troops reopened on Monday.
John Magno, Department of Education-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DepEd-ARMM) director, said the reopened schools have been cleared by security experts.
“We do not reopen schools without clearance. We thank the Westmincom (Western Mindanao Command) for its effort to clear the campuses of bombs and unexploded ordnance,” Magno said yesterday.
Classes had earlier resumed in Conding, Sikap, Cabingan, Banga, Datu Tambak, Bito, Pendolonan, Abdulazis, Camp Bagong Amai Pakpak, Sugod and Mipaga Elementary Schools.
More than 60 Marawi schools failed to open in June due to the crisis.
Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., Westmincom chief, said bomb experts are still clearing several schools.
Ana Zenaida Unte, assistant schools superintendent, said barangay officials and government security forces are securing the reopened schools.
Unte said they have started delivering learning kits and other educational materials.
“We received…more than 500 big boxes of supplies for the reopened schools. These…came from various DepEd division offices across the country,” she said.
Unte said the DepEd main office sent 17 sets of solar powered-generators on Monday.
“We are in dire need of these generators because… facilities supplying electricity in affected barangays were destroyed,” she said.
Meanwhile, thousands joined ARMM’s People’s Day at the Marawi city hall on Monday to celebrate the city’s liberation from terrorists and welcome evacuees who returned to their homes.
ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, Marawi Mayor Majul Gandamra, Lanao del Sur provincial government officials, Westmincom representatives, ARMM police officials and Marawi police personnel attended the activity.
Hataman stressed the need for all sectors to work together to prevent terrorists from regrouping.
“We need the support of religious leaders and the academe to achieve that goal. We also need the help of Muslim and Christian communities that suffered from the conflict we have just witnessed,” he said.