500 students graduate despite Zambo crisis

Despite the protracted crisis that followed the September 2013 Zamboanga City siege, around 500 elementary students were able to graduate from three affected schools.

Grade 6 students of Mariki Elementary School, Sta. Barbara Central School and Rio Hondo Elementary School in Zamboanga City graduated last week, according to the Department of Education (DepEd).

Some graduating students, however, will need to undergo summer classes because they failed some subjects, according to the DepEd.

The students held classes in other venues in the city because they were displaced by the nearly monthlong fighting that broke out between the military and the followers of former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari on Sept. 9, 2013.

Since the area remains off-limits even after the fighting has ended, students of Mariki Elementary School held classes at Zamboanga City Polytechnic State College where the graduation ceremonies were also held.

Sta. Barbara Central School was the hardest hit among the affected schools, with the school buildings riddled with bullets.

Their students held classes at the office training center of the DepEd’s Zamboanga City division. They held their graduation ceremonies at the city’s Centro Latino events venue.

Rio Hondo Elementary School, meanwhile, was the least affected, since the school buildings remain intact.

The DepEd said some students of Rio Hondo Elementary School needed to undergo “summer enhancement programs” to master the “basic competencies” needed for Grade 7.

‘Critical’ area

Of the 171 public elementary schools and 34 high schools in Zamboanga City, these three schools are located in the “critical area,” the DepEd said.

Last September, MNLF rebels took hold of five densely populated coastal barangays in Zamboanga City, apparently in protest of the government’s peace talks with the rival group Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The military retaliated by heavily bombarding the area where the rebels held out with civilian hostages.

The end of the fighting, however, led to an internal displacement crisis involving numerous cases of abuse, disease and prostitution in the congested evacuation centers at Joaquin F. Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex and around it.

Seven months since the siege ended, over 20,000 people remain in seven evacuation centers, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

In a message read at the graduation ceremonies, Education Secretary Armin Luistro commended the resilience shown by the students, teachers, parents and school staff.

“We have proven that we can surmount any adversity by sharing our light with each other in times of darkness, both figuratively and literally,” he said.

Luistro told the pupils to let the “past year’s sacrifices be a constant reminder and a source of strength that will propel each of them to achieve more for others and the country in spite of the obstacles that will stand in the way.”