School principal turns to Internet for safety woes

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Out of her apparent despair for the seeming lack of attention to the imminent danger that threatens the lives of 39 of her 210 wards and teachers, Ma. Theresa Tarranza turned to the Internet.

Through the CheckMySchool.org, an online group that aims to help address education-related issues, Tarranza, a school principal in Pagadian City, started a campaign for the repair of the worn-out reinforcement wall in her school, the Otto Lingue National High School (OLNHS).

The 10-meter high reinforcement wall was constructed to protect at least two OLNHS buildings from slides as the school was built at the foot of Mt. Sibatang in Lower Sibatang in Pagadian City.

Five years ago, cracks started to manifest on the wall, Tarranza said, recounting what was told her by students and teachers. These have since developed into larger ruptures, said Tarranza, who became the school’s principal two years ago.

“Every day, I have this fear that this wall may give up because we always experience heavy downpour in the afternoon and water is seeping into the cracked wall. Soil erosion is also observed at the lower part of the wall. I don’t want to wait for a disaster to happen,” Tarranza told the Inquirer by phone.

“I was informed the city government has rehabilitated it before by putting a rip-rap but that rip-rap gradually gave way because the problem is the foundation itself,” she said.

Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co admitted that engineering work could not easily be done because “even our engineering equipment cannot get through.”

Lower Sibatang is some 28 kilometers from the city proper and is accessible only by motorcycles and small vehicles, he said.

Co said she met Tarranza last month to discuss the problem. “We have dispatched a team from the engineering office to conduct site assessment and how we can fix the wall problem,” he said.

Co said the feedback he got was that the repair work would cost some P1 million because the wall has to be totally reconstructed.

“We decided to use funds intended for other schools to rebuild it but the repair could not be hastened. We have to follow procedures such as the government’s bidding process,” Co said. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao