The Pinagbayanan Elementary School in Taysan town in Batangas will be renamed after Nellie Banaag, the teacher who perished in the pre-dawn attack by unidentified armed men who burned down the school last Tuesday.
After visiting the site, President Arroyo ordered the school building rebuilt in time for school opening next month, and to have it named after Banaag.
Banaag, a teacher of the school, and poll watcher Leticia Ramos perished after unidentified armed men set the school on fire early Tuesday.
Twelve others, most of them poll watchers and Banaag’s daughter Richelle, were also injured in the blaze.
The armed men reportedly ordered the teachers and poll watchers to lie on the floor while the others poured gasoline on the walls and doors of the rooms before setting it on fire.
Mrs. Arroyo ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to arrest those behind the attack and extend assistance to the families of Banaag and Ramos.
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said renaming the school after Banaag is the government’s gesture to honor her heroism.
The school principal, Francia Ogsimer, was close to tears as she spoke about Banaag, whom she described as “always helpful, understanding, and very responsible.”
“She (Banaag) was like a big sister to us,” Ogsimer said.
Ogsimer said fellow teachers were shocked and fearful for their lives following the incident.
She said residents and teachers are demanding swift justice for Banaag and the immediate arrest of the perpetrators.
“We seek justice for what happened to her,” Lapus said.
Police have in their custody four police officers belonging to a special unit of the Batangas Provincial Police Office who were allegedly implicated in the burning of the school.
Two of the policemen were identified by witnesses as having started the fire.
The suspects, including a police inspector, are all members of the Southern Tagalog Regional Special Operation Group (RSOG) and have been placed under “restrictive custody” after they were disarmed.
PNP Region 4A RSOG chief Senior Superintendent James Brillantes is the immediate superior of the suspect-policemen.
Four more RSOG members were implicated yesterday during the case conference conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Southern Tagalog.
“Their names cropped up during the case conference so we will check whether they were part (of the attack) or not,” one official said.
He said investigators are also eyeing the participation of certain civilians in the attack.
The official said investigators managed to establish the connection between Brillantes and re-electionist Taysan Mayor Hernando Villena, who is also being eyed as one of the suspects.
The militant Alliance for Concerned Teachers (ACT) also expressed outrage over the involvement of policemen in the attack.
“We are outraged to learn that the single most heinous act of violence in these elections has apparently been perpetrated by policemen,” ACT chairman Antonio Tinio said.
ACT also criticized the PNP for immediately blaming the communist New People’s Army for the attack. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Rainier Allan Ronda