Are Officials of DepEd Ingrate?

BINMALEY – DEPED STAND OFF

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BINMALEY – Are the officials of the Department of Education ingrate to the host of their school buildings?

According to the legal counsel of the DepEd at the Regional Office in San Fernando City in case this town mayor Simplicio Rosario proceed to title the land that hosted the Binmaley Central School, the department will oppose it.

STAND-OFF – Education Secretary Leonor Briones
 and Binmaley, Pangasinan Mayor Sam Rosario.

“Corollary, the Department may also apply for Special Patent considering that the school has been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious occupation of said school site since 1828. Of course, the Department should expect an opposition from the municipality as well,” a letter to Mayor Rosario by Lawyer Howard Yano Chan, Attorney IV, and approved by Regional Director Alma Ruby C. Torio of the DepEd Region-1 in San Fernando City, La Union.

The local government unit (LGU) of this burgeoning town has been paying the real property taxes of this primary level school to the public coffer since time immemorial.

The standoff between these two government offices started in May 19, 2015 when the Sangguniang Bayan (legislative body) here promulgated Resolution Number 52 Series of 2015 authorizing Rosario to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with LKY Development Company (LDC) for the construction of Primark Mall at a 2000 square meter lot which is part of an untitled parcel of land covered by Tax Declaration No. 28322.

The Tax Declaration is under the name of this municipality and it covers a total land area of 16,971 sq m.

 Its occupants are Binmaley Central School (BSC) whose presence here started in year 1828, Magic Supermart, a barangay hall, and the Binmaley Astrodome which is currently under construction.

On September 23, 2015, Mayor Rosario wrote DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro to inform him of the proposed project.

From January 12, 2016 various official communications exchanged between the two parties. One of them was School Division Superintendent Maria Cecilia Junio-Fernandez recommendation to allow the construction of the mall.

In March 22, 2017 Rosario wrote DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones that there are two elementary schools in this town which are the BCS and Binmaley North Elementary School.

He said Primark Group of Companies will donate P120,000 to the LGU as scholarship grant to poor but deserving students in this town as Primark thrusts for  corporate social responsibility.

In September 4, 2017, the regional office received Rosario letter that stated that LDC-Primark construct a two units three-storey 12 classrooms or a total of 24 classrooms and the local government shall construct a one-unit three storey five-classrooms or a total of 15 classrooms or a total of 39 classrooms.

But the 39 classrooms are without a condition. It should be in exchanged of the construction of LDC in the bigger 2,396 sq. m of the 8, 358.70 sq.m presently occupied by the BCS.

But Regional Director Torio through Lawyer Chan rejected the recommendation of Superintendent Fernandez and the new proposal of Rosario.

Torio and Chan cited that one of the disadvantages in capitulating to the demand of Rosario and LDC will be the constriction of spaces among the Special Education (SPED) pupils and their playground.

“Binmaley CS has the highest enrollment in Binmaley, Pangasinan with 1,007 enrollees. It is also the only school in Binmaley offering SPED classes and it has a total of 154 SPED learners. A 300 sq.m play area for a thousand learners surely is not sufficient and will hugely impact their development. Again, play is a scientifically recognized component of child development which is why physical education and school sports is ingrained in the elementary curriculum,” the letter stressed.

It added that a congested school site is certainly not conducive to the learners and will lessen the school’s opportunity for expansion. It cited that future constructions might require high rise buildings which would make it difficult for small school children and most especially for the SPED learners.

In the press conference called last October by the mayor, member of the Sangguniang Bayan, and department heads, Rosario said LDC and the Local Government offer a more palatable condition to the DepEd just for it to acquiesce with their desire.

The new package included 35 classrooms, the construction of a flood control system, installation of security cameras, and railings around the school.

Rosario cited that there is another primary level school’s Binmaley North Elementary School in the poblacion area in the town where BSC can relocate.

He cited he has no plan to petition the court for mandamus and sue for ownership for the DepEd to leave and show who owned the BSC.

The proposal was suggested by a reporter during the press conference after he cited the legal conflict between then Bayambang Mayor Ricardo Camacho and the DepEd when the latter would not leave the Bayambang Central School for a newly constructed school building in Bararangay Magsaysay after it (BCS) was gutted by fire in 2012 and fear of dengue outbreak loom.

Camacho prevailed after the Regional Trial Court in San Carlos City ordered the DepEd through Mandamus because of the police power of the mayor to relocate the users to the new buildings owned by a certain Willy Chua who swapped it with the Central School.

Lawyer Chan said acquiescing to Rosario’s demand would become a domino effect to other towns and cities that have similar situation with the town.

“The Department is currently flooded with similar requests from other municipalities not only in the Region but in the entire nation. The Department has always been consistent in denying such request. In fact, some of the requests are out rightly denied in the Division and Regional levels due to the standing policy that school sites are reserved exclusively for educational purposes”.

He said that if Rosario and LDC get their way, it will surely open the floodgates for more requests and motions for reconsideration for previously denied requests for DepEd to give to the LGUs. The approval might be used as a precedent to the detriment of school sites all over the region or even the nation.

Rosario said he will write to President Rodrigo Duterte and Secretary Briones for reconsideration.

The mayor said hosting Primark will be good for the local revenue, free enterprise that will generate jobs for the people here, encourage competition among local businesses, increase the income generated by the town through business taxes, which will ultimately redound to the benefit of the people including the school children and their parents. The mayor cited the town’s practice of giving school materials to learners annually using the LGU’s monies.

The lawyer disputed Rosario by citing that he did not practice due diligence because there are other lands in the periphery of the town owned by the LGU.

“It appears that there are other lands in the name of Binmaley and the Republic which may be utilized for the mall. Though the good mayor manifested that the current proposal was the product of a public deliberation and consultation in the municipal council, it does not appear that other sites within the municipality were considered. It is also noteworthy that previous proposed constructions within the school site were met with disapproval from certain sectors in Binmaley”

But Rosario cited the disputed area is the best based on consultation and hearing.

He said the selection of the proposed site has undergone prior research and consultation with the people of Binmaley as evidenced by the legislative body resolution which was heard in public.