INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MASBATE CITY – The mayor of Cataingan town in Masbate province issued an emergency memorandum order on Wednesday, March 22, to suspend classes in some of their villages due to armed encounters between members of the New People’s Army (NPA) and Army soldiers in neighboring towns.
Cataingan Mayor Felipe Cabataña, who is also chair of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (MDDRMC), addressed the memorandum “to all concerned school heads and Punong Barangay (Barangay chairmans) of the municipality.”
The memo ordered suspending classes in all public and private schools at all levels “until further notice.”
But, the memo excludes Barangays: Aguada, Concepcion, Curvada, Domorog, Gahit, Madamba, Malobago, Matayum, Mintac, Pawican, Poblacion, Quezon, San Pedro, Sta. Teresita, Sto. Niño and Tagboan. The memo did not explain the exemption of other barangays.
“All school heads and barangay authorities are hereby advised to take all precautionary measures to prevent any untoward incident, particularly to the pupils, students, and civilians,” the memorandum reads.
The memo was issued after another firefight broke out between soldiers and rebels Wednesday morning after the flag-raising ceremony in neighboring Placer town.
Bernadette Borbe, a teacher at Locso-an Elementary School in Barangay Locso-an in Placer, said that at 7:40 a.m., they were taking pictures for the Women’s Month Celebration, an explosion, followed by gunfire was heard around the vicinity of the school.
“We were scared when we heard the explosion and gunfire. The teachers and other students ran inside the classroom. In every classroom, there were advisers and interns from Cataingan Municipal College to support the students who were crying out of fear,” Borbe said. The school was closed for the day.
On Monday, March 21, at around 10:20 a.m., a clash occurred in Barangay Villahermosa in another adjacent town of Cawayan where Corporal Antonio Parreño Jr. of the 2nd Infantry Batallion was slain.
The encounter prompted the officials of Villahermosa National High School to shift from in-person classes to modular distance learning for a week since Monday. Franshey Mae Drio, contributor