TAGUM CITY, Philippines — How far would you go to make a difference in the learning of our children?

This question emerged as the team of Tagum City Mayor Rey T. Uy went to Barangay Dagohoy in the highlands in the Municipality of Talaingod in the Province of Davao del Norte to personally deliver fabricated school furniture to three elementary schools namely; Paiton Elem. School, Barobo Elem. School and Dagohoy Elem. School.

As they make their way through a long and winding road and even crossed a river just to reach the schools, the answer to this question became clear. There’s no river and there’s no chasm too deep for them just to ensure that the school furniture are delivered in time.

In Paiton Elementary School, eighteen (18) kilometers away from the town proper, sixth-grader student Hazel Bantao echoed an unfathomable statement: “Salamat kaayo sa mga bangko nga gihatag ni Mayor Uy. Dako kaayo ni ug ikatabang sa among pag-eskwela. Dili na gyud mi mag-guot sa among mga gamay na lingkuranan.”(Thank you so much for the chairs that were given by Mayor Uy. It would be a great help in our studies. We don’t need to fill ourselves up in a tiny chair.)

On a sun-kissed October 4 this year, Mayor Uy personally delivered twelve kiddie chairs, 31 armchairs and 30 desks to Hazel’s school at Paiton Elem. School, along with 80 pieces of school furniture to nearby Barobo Elementary School and other 83 pieces to Dagohoy Elementary School.

An armchair is tagged at 600 pesos apiece while one desk is priced at 750 pesos each. These fabricated school furniture are given free by the City Government of Tagum upon the request from the schools.

It was learned during the visit that each desk—majority of which are dilapidated—is occupied by four students which greatly affected the students’ concentration on their studies.

Miss Sharon Idpalina, one of Hazel’s teachers believes this could help in their pursuit of the delivery of quality education. On the other hand, Datu Oscar Epos, tribal leader of Barobo in Talaingod, thanked Mayor Uy for this initiative.

“Nagpasalamat mi kay naa usa ka gobyerno nga nagatan-aw sa lumad nga angayan gyud tabangan,” (We’re thankful because there’s a government who looks for the welfare of the lumad who badly needs help) Datu Epos quipped who led his group in carrying the donated furniture to their classroom which serves as the only room catering all the students in all grade levels. Aside from this problem, Datu Epos also lamented about the bad condition of their community’s roads.

Asked for a message for the students, Mayor Uy had one piece of advice: “Magtarong lang sila ug eskwela , malipay na ko ana.” (I’ll be happy if they do well in their studies.)