Counterinsurgency ops won’t stop school opening in Zambo Sur town

PAGADIAN CITY — Classes would open at the Saad Elementary School in the village of Saad in Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur amid a military operation against New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.

Beatriz Legados, Dumingag district education supervisor, said school officials expected at least 300 students to go to class in Saad despite the operations, which started on Tuesday.

Up to 230 individuals fled their homes when the military intensified its operation against NPA rebels there and were now staying in the village hall.

But even those in the village center were wary of the operations although they did not flee, Legados admitted.

She said teachers were also concerned about their security and that of their students.

Near shelter

Legados said at least 50 students belonged to families who had fled their homes in the village’s interior areas on Tuesday.

Marites Egos, Dumingag social worker, said it won’t be difficult for children of evacuees to attend classes at the village school because it was “just a walk away from the barangay hall” where their families had fled.

Lt. Col. Marlowe Patria, commander of the 53rd Infantry Battalion, said the operation would continue.
Soldiers would also secure the village proper.

On Thursday, the military said it had overran the NPA camp in a remote part village and captured a rebel. —Leah Agonoy