MACABEBE, Pampanga— At least 700 elementary- and high-school students, most of them poor and living in coastal villages here, are able to go to school, thanks to the free boat-ride project of Mayor Annette Flores-Balgan.
Balgan, a three-term mayor who prioritized education and livelihood, started the free transportation for students shortly after she assumed her post in 2010. This was “to limit the number of early marriages and teenage pregnancies, and allow young people living in far areas access to public education.”
“When I was visiting the coastal villages a long time ago, I spoke to young people carrying children. I thought the babies were either their younger brothers or sisters tagging along with them. I was surprised to learn the babies were their children,” Balgan said.
“They seek partners even before reaching the age of 18, because they don’t go to school anymore. The fee for a boat ride was expensive for them, or there was no boat ride at all in some areas of the town’s coastal villages,” she said.
The Macabebe local government is spending at least P164,000 monthly to pay the owners of the 23 motorized boats, which provides transportation services to the students from seven villages, municipal administrator Jomel Cruz said. He showed the latest payment vouchers for the project.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported in early July the Philippines is the only Asia-Pacific country where the rate of teen pregnancies rose over the last two decades. It said girls aged 15 to 19 make up 10 percent of the country’s population of 100 million and one out of 10 has already given birth, UNFPA country representative Klaus Beck said in an Associated Press report.
Residents and village officials said some of the people in the seven villages got married or became pregnant when they were between “11 and 17 years old.”
The students fetched from their villages, brought to schools and returned to their homes are from Barangays Caduang Tete, Mataguiti, Castuli, Saplad David, Santa Maria, Dalayap and San Esteban. Santa Maria has 233 students relying on the project of the mayor, the highest number compared to the six other barangays.
Barangay Captains Newton San Angel of Caduang Tete, Alfredo Mallari Jr. of Mataguiti, Domingo Gamboa of Castuli and Ruben Garcia of Saplad David were all praises for the longtime project of Balgan.
They said “no other mayor has done a project truly beneficial to their constituents, especially the poor ones.”
Garcia said a student spends at least P40 for a ride from their village to the school. Then they need another P40 for a return trip home, he said.
Balgan urged the students to attend classes on a regular basis “even if they only have a boiled egg with rice or bread for lunch.”
Gamboa said most of the parents of the students are working as caretakers and security personnel of fish ponds.
“They only earn enough and they could not afford to spend so much for the education of their children. The free boat ride helps them send their kids to school,” he added.
“They will have a bright future once they finish their education. You can’t go to college if you don’t get over high school. Education is always the best weapon against poverty,” said Balgan, who also helps poor but deserving people get college education.
Most of those given free boat rides are studying at the public high school in Caduang Tete, which has more than 7,000 students.
It’s the most populated public high school in Macabebe. Caduang Tete could be reached by Castuli residents after a 45-minute boat ride
Image credits: Leo Villacarlos