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BY GLENDA S. TAYONA
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January 26, 2018
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ILOILO – In Barangay San Gregorio, Lambunao, Iloilo children have to cross a river to reach school. They have to bring spare clothes to avoid soiling their school uniform.
The situation gets even more difficult during inclement weather, according to teacher Joycel Lastimoso Moquite who has to cross the river daily, too.
If the river swells or overflows, they have to wait for the water to recede before crossing, explained Moquite.
The waiting could stretch for some four hours.
Barangay San Gregorio is 15 kilometers from the town’s center.
To call public attention to the schoolchildren’s plight, Moquite videoed them crossing the river and recently posted this on Facebook.
Not long after the video went viral, the provincial government vowed to take action.
A hanging bridge would be constructed over the river under the Kalahi-CIDDS program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, said Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr.
The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services is a community-driven poverty alleviation and development program. It encourages people’s participation in barangay (community-level) governance and develop their capacity to design, implement, and manage development activities and projects that reduce poverty.
The provincial government’s counterpart in the Kalahi-CIDDS hanging bridge is P3 million, said Defensor.
According to former Lambunao mayor and now municipal administrator Reynor Gonzales, the local government previously attempted to constructed a bailey bridge over the river.
Lambunao is some 47 kilometers northwest of Iloilo City. It is made up of 73 barangays.
There were times the pupils of San Gregorio Elementary School would reach home late at night from school, especially when the weather is bad and the river is swelling. They have to wait for the water to subside before crossing the river, according to Moquite./PN
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