Commentary

In response, Mayor Emmanuel "Bon" Alejandrino on Saturday asserted that the property claimed to be formerly owned by the vice-mayor is owned by the local government unit of Arayat.

The mayor explained that the contested property is part of the 4.1-hectare lot where the local government's Small Water Impounding Project (SWIP) is located.

"It is the local government that constructed the fence and roads around it so how can he say that it was his? This is aside from the fact the property he's claiming to be his is actually inside the Baliti Dam compound which is obviously owned by the local government," he said.

Alejandrino presented to mediamen the vicinity map around the SWIP compound which showed that Mallari's former property is inside Lot 30 which is designated for SWIP.

"This also explains that we are not singling him out. It just so happened that he is the only one that encroached the dam and the other properties he was referring to are outside the facility," he said.

He also disclosed that properties outside the dam tried to apply for transfer of title but were not granted yet by the Department of Agrarian Reform.

Alejandrino likewise explained that he allowed the property to be occupied prior to this year because it was not yet used by the local government then.

But this year, the local government is set to utilize the dam for the construction of a barangay day care center.

"We included the construction of a day care center in Barangay Baliti in our priority projects to cater to children in the barangay and we need to utilize the funding now or we will be asked by the Commission on Audit to explain," he said.

Prior to padlocking, Alejandrino said he talked to Sta. Ana Councilor Ramoncito Barro, Jr. --who bought the contested property from Mallari--to ask him to leave the property but the latter refused which forced the local government to implement such measure.

"This issue is just blown out of proportion. As vice mayor, he should know facts because he has access to it but he chose to hit the local government that he is part of," the mayor said.

He also said that instead of playing politics, he urged Mallari to be united with the local government so programs and services for people can easily be downloaded.

Or depending on the teachers, they still need to send a soft copy of their answers to the school.

This means they need to have printers and ample supply of bond papers to obtain hard copies of modules while those who chose to pick up and delivery do not need to worry about these concerns because the schools provide them with both the hard copies of the modules and the answer sheets.

Conducting online classes today is ideal, there is no doubt about it, but ours is considered a third world country. Having an online class is possible and but it is never fair to all students especially those studying in public schools. Online classes are financially demanding and most likely, the majority of the learners’families cannot cope with these demands.

I heard that elementary students in some private schools hold online classes. Good for them because their families can afford their financial weights. The economic condition is the foremost consideration among most families in the country. The majority of the students in public schools do not have gadgets or fast-internet service connections necessary for online classes. Teachers cannot just hold these classes to a small number of the class only because most students have no means to join. Those who are not privileged of sufficient income will be denied of the learnings attained in activities and discussion.

Pubic schools can conduct online classes but it would be discriminating because it is selective. The learning experiences would not be the same for everybody and the poor will certainly be on the losing end.

DepEd understands the need for online learning through online classes but it had to choose a modality that would be fair for all learners. So, handing these developed modules to the students is the safest and fairest of all the possible modalities. Online delivery will only be good for those who have no way or means of going to the school such as those who were locked in the provinces due to the pandemic or those whose areas are under travel restriction.

The process of teaching and learning should be clear among teachers, learners, and parents/guardianstominimizefrustrations.Theprocessofschoolingtodaybeginsinobtaining the modules (depends on the options) by parents or guardians, then students work on these modules at home. The mindset includes expecting the difficulty in answering modules because it mostly demands learners to be independents.

Once this is clear, learners understand they need the assistance and supervision of their parents, most especially their teachers. They need to consult their teachers in any means available because it is necessary. Teachers are creating group chats (GC) to maintain active and close contact with the students. Learners should maximize its use.

Education in the new normal is tricky. The extensive planning by DepEd does not cover all the loopholes created by the newness of the approach. Time and time, teachers and students face hurdles that will challenge their perseverance. Problems will arise. It will be frustrating and, at a time, terrifying. To overcome most of these challenges, all stakeholders need to be kept updated. They need to be clarified in information like the idea of online learning and online delivery.--- Sherwin L. Fernando