NO INTENTION TO GIVE 'CALAMITY' DIPLOMAS - CHIZ

Opposition Sen. Chiz Escudero yesterday urged education officials to review his proposal to give students at all levels a passing grade for the current semester or grading period in areas badly hit by Pepeng and Ondoy, clarifying he never proposed to give out "calamity" diplomas.

"Let me be very clear on this: I never said students in the calamity areas be accelerated or promoted to the next grade or year. What I favor is granting credits for this quarter or semester so students can help their families and communities recover from these disasters," he said.

"Classes have been severely disrupted in almost all of central and northern Luzon. Schools have been damaged or continue to be used as evacuation centers. Many roads and highways remain impassable. Teachers have been displaced, too," Escudero said.

The latest report from the Office of Civil Defense shows that 62 towns in central Luzon alone remain flooded while several towns in the Cordilleras continue to be isolated because of landslides in key roads.

At least 675,681 families or 3,136,965 people in 4,472 villages in 356 towns and 35 cities in 27 provinces were affected by Pepeng, disaster officials said. Some 17,506 families or 83,482 people are housed in 179 evacuation centers.

"The numbers speak of the suffering our people are undergoing right now. The trauma inflicted on our children can very well be immeasurable. To say then that our students will now pray for super typhoons every year so they can pass school without studying is very lamentable and uncalled for," Escudero said.

"The semester is just about over. I am sure the experience they had with this calamity alone may be more than what some other people will learn in their lifetime," he said.

Education officials have admitted that teachers will go the extra mile or even bend policies to make up for the disruption of classes caused by Ondoy and Pepeng.