ComVal supports Salugpungan Suspension

NABUNTURAN, Compostela Valley, July 19 (PIA) - - Compostela Valley Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy is supporting the order from the Department of Education XI (Deped) suspending schools operated by Salugpungan Ta Tanu Igkanogon.

 According to the Deped Compostela Valley, 15 out of the 55 schools suspended are located in the province.

 In a statement, Governor Uy stressed that for ten years of existence in Compostela Valley, the administration of the Salugpungan schools had not consulted the local government in the province.

“As Governor and former Chair of the Regional Peace and Order Council XI, we also received complaints on the failure of these schools to secure free, prior and informed consents (FPIC) from the communities where they operate, as mandated by the Indigenous People’s Rights Act,” the governor said.

Governor Uy hoped that the issues surrounding the suspension will be cleared up, following a free and unbiased inquiry.

Last July 12, Deped XI Regional Director Evelyn Fetalvero issued a suspension order to the Salugpungan schools and gave them until July 17 to submit to explain why the permit to operate and recognition granted to the school be fully revoked.

 The deadline was later extended to July 22 upon the request of Salugpungan Executive Director Eugenia Nolasco.

Governor Uy also underscored that the provincial government will exert its efforts to ensure that the indigenous peoples (IP) communities have access to quality education.

 In a Bayanihan concept, two schools serving IP children opened last June 3 at sitios Side 4, Barangay Mangayon and Puting Bato, Barangay Ngan, all in Compostela town.

 With a vision of keeping every child in school, the provincial government with the help of public and private stakeholders will construct another five schools in geographically isolated and depressed areas.

 Aside from the governor, the province’s Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Board Member Datu Felipe Masambo also disclosed that the Provincial Tribal Council has received reports that lessons in the Salugpungan schools include ideologies of the communist group.

 The tribal chieftain also said that parents have expressed concerns that their children will be utilized to fight against government forces.

 “Ang gusto lamang sa mga ginikanan na pagkahuman ug eskwela, makatabang sa ilang panginabuhian; dili kay makig gira na hinuon,” he said. (What the parents wanted is after schooling, their children will help them in their livelihood; instead of them, going to war.)

 Datu Masambo noted that the tribal council’s submitted a resolution to the Provincial Peace and Order Council in a meeting last January 25, 2019 for the closure of the Salugpungan schools. (PIA11, Michael L. Uy)

Photo:

(PPOC pdrmc)

Comval Gov Tyron Uy presides over the joint Peace and Order Council (PPOC) and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) Meetings on July 17, 2019at the provincial capitol. (maryel lasaca/id comval)

 A school gymnasium is turned over in Brgy. Panibasan, Maco with Comval Gov Tyron Uy gracing the ceremony on July 20, 2019. (maryel lasaca/id comval)

Compassion for Refugees?

My column in Mindanao Daily, BusinessWeek Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro Times

Is the European Union  (EU) choosing self-interest over compassion for refugees? A very interesting question asked by German TV-commentator Bernd Riegert. And it seems, he is already able presenting his answer: In the EU's game of "refugee bingo," far-right Italian Interior Minister Minister Matteo Salvini can only win. He has little reason to give in to states looking for lasting migration policy.

 "Miserable" was the word German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer used to describe the current situation for migrants fleeing to Europe from Libya. It's a reference to "refugee bingo," cynical jargon for the game the European Union plays whenever a private rescue ship saves dozens of migrants on the Mediterranean Sea and brings them to Italian shores. The EU commissioner for migration gets on the phone with interior ministers from around the bloc, cajoling them to take a handful of people. Then the merciless haggling begins - as Bernd Riegert and many others describe the present situation at the south border of Europe.

Yes, being very honest: the process has become a rallying cry for Italy's far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who has achieved domestic political success by stoking anti-refugee sentiment and presenting himself as the unyielding protector of Italian interests. Close the ports, deter the migrants, problem solved — that's Salvini's populist recipe. And several other opinions go into the same direction.

Fact is: refugees sent to Libya under EU deal face 'catastrophic' conditions. A few EU member states, notably France and my home country Germany, have had enough of this game. They want a lasting arrangement that determines which country takes in how many migrants.

We can probably thank the courageous ship captain Carola Rackete for Seehofer's support in finding a solution. Her daring landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa made global headlines. It's even got German Challencor Angela Merkel's feuding government coalition seeing eye to eye.

If we take a closer look to Europe: no one taking responsibility. Really sad to say.

Yet the today's Helsinki meeting has made clear that nothing will change in the near term. An agreement will have to wait at least until September. Until then, the miserable game continues, largely because Italy and those countries ready to do more cannot agree on one point: Other member states are only willing to accept migrants with a good case for asylum. The rest, accounting for at least 70 percent of all migrants, would have to stay in Italy.

Allow me to quote Riegert again: Salvini wants to see all of the migrants sent elsewhere, immediately, and not be left with the hopeless cases. He knows that it can be difficult to deport them back to their countries of origin. Other receiving countries, such as Germany, know that deportation is now off the table for those who don't stand a chance at asylum. That would explain why they are sticking to the rules as they are: Migrants are registered in the arrival country, in this case Italy, which decides who deserves asylum protection and who doesn't. That can take months, then more months until other EU members agree to actually take those asylum-seekers.

Even if a time-limited redistribution of the relatively few people brought in by rescue ships is agreed to, the larger problem remains. The EU's asylum system needs reform that redefines responsibility and quotas — a huge step for a hopelessly divided bloc that has been negotiating for years and remains far from a solution. The EU's eastern states, along with Italy and Austria, have been the biggest obstacles of all.

Incoming German - European Commission President elect Ursula von der Leyen says she wants to untie this Gordian knot. But she'll only enjoy a very, very little  little success so long as Salvini-like populists in Italy, Hungary and Poland are in charge. Migration is the ongoing European crisis they can repeatedly pick up votes with, no matter that, in absolute figures, the number of people coming to European shores keeps dropping dramatically. So why change course? Is it  a matter of putting self-interest before compassion for refugees and migrants? I can't answer this question at this moment now. Future will show.