Students in typhoon-hit Bicol to get mental health aid sessions — DepEd
MANILA, Philippines — The education department's regional office in Bicol said Thursday that it will extend psychological first aid to students in areas hit hard by the recent typhoons that ravaged the country.
DepEd Region 5 in a release said the sessions will cover some 200 students per schools division along with mental health services to teaching and non-teaching staff from December 7 to 11.
"[The session] is an arts-based approach. It includes body movement and music activities, t-shirt art creation, writing and storytelling exercise, and breathing exercises to foster the well-being of all attendees," the office said.
Officials added that while it will be held in person, health standards set by government such as physical distancing and PPE wearing would be followed.
It will also be limited to between 15 to 20 persons per session.
Super Typhoon "Rolly" (international name Goni) and Typhoon "Ulysses" (international name Vamco) had left Bicol reeling from extensive damage, with billions of pesos in damage to crops as well as thousands of homes destroyed.
The two weather disturbances, along with another — "Quinta" (international name Molave), had left Luzon under a state of calamity.
DepEd figures after Rolly's onslaught showed nearly 3,000 students were staying with their families in evacuation shelters, with learning under a new setup due to the coronavirus pandemic heavily reliant on internet, TV or radio apart from printed resources taking a halt.
In Bicol alone, 182 schools were reported to have been damaged, along with 6,251 learning materials and 130 computer sets.
The child-rights' group Educo Philippines has warned that learning such typhoons, along with the ongoing health crisis, will further hamper learning in the said areas.
Psychosocial sessions it extended to students also showed some losing interest in returning to classes after the calamity.
Now a month after Rolly, the global NGO that began its efforts in the country in 2005, said risks especially among women and young girls are heightened as a result of the lack of shelters.
"The cramped spaces and the lack of electricity can expose them to heightened protection risks," said Shiena Base who leads the Educo's emergency response team on the ground. "It will be difficult for them to report these as their families have other problems to deal with, simultaneously.”
The group has since continued to distribute relief kits to hundreds of typhoon victims, but one of its major concern is the impact of the storms to students' learning, describing 2020 as "the worst year for most school children."
“Parents pay particular attention to provide food on the table, before anything else," Base added. "Some are unable to spend money on transportation to school when their school-age children need to pick up modules for distance learning.”
Education Secretary Leonor Briones has said that the agency would spend some P1.2 billion to replace damaged learning materials, with officials saying sources for the effort have been identified.
Classes in hard-hit areas were temporarily called off as a result of the typhoons. DepEd, however, has shunned calls from groups to declare and academic freeze, with Briones saying that the school calendar could instead be extended.
Follow this page for updates on typhoon relief and recovery efforts in the Philippines. Image by AFP/Charism Sayat.
The Philippine Coast Guard says it has transported 3,264.9 tons of relief goods and critical supplies on its vessels and aircraft to help with rehabilitation efforts in areas affected by Typhoon Odette last December.
The Coast Guard began transporting emergency supplies on December 19, 2021.
COVID-19 facilities damaged by recent typhoons should be repaired as soon as possible, Sen. Risa Hontiveros says Monday as she called for additional funding for this in the 2021 budget of the Department of Health.
Hontiveros says an increase in the DOH budget would go to rebuilding typhoon-hit facilities in Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur, and Albay that have been rendered "completely non-functional".
She adds: "Testing and isolation are two of the most important steps in our fight against COVID-19. Any delay in the restoration of these facilities could be a major setback in our progress. The additional budget means there should be no excuses for inaction."
Akbayan visit barangays Nangka and Tumana in Marikina on Tuesday to distribute food packs to families affected by Typhoon Ulysses earlier this month.
At the food distribution were Akbayan Youth Chair RJ Naguit as well as Miss Philippines-Earth 2020 title holders Gianna Llanes, Quintana Tormes and candidate Iris Marie Mabanta.
Chinese social media giant TikTok pledges to donate approximately P15 million ($300,000) to relief efforts following typhoons that struck the Philippines.
Half of the donation will be allocated to the Philippine Red Cross for their efforts of providing hot meals and other urgent necessities in typhoon-hit areas.
"TikTok’s donation will surely go a long way in further strengthening PRC’s humanitarian efforts to alleviate the suffering of those who were impacted by the recent calamities. You can be sure the Red Cross will continue to be there for the people affected," Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the PRC, says.
President Duterte's chief legal counsel has advised Vice President Leni Robredo not to publicize her aid distribution and to just let people she helped to spread the word about her activities.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, who recently apologized to Robredo for reacting to false information about her relief efforts, said the vice president need not inform the media about her aid distribution because local residents would talk about it.
RELATED: Panelo told to 'get facts straight' over claim Robredo rode government plane to Bicol
"If you are there, people (would) talk about it and word will spread that you have been there. It will reach the ears of those who are appreciative of what you are doing," Panelo said during his television program on state media last Friday.
Robredo has said that her team posts updates on relief operations so donors and partners will know that their help is reaching those who need it. She also said that the updates are to reassure people that they have been heard.
Whenever we get updates from the ground, we share them with the public. It is important to assure those who are distressed that (1) we heard you; (2) help is coming; (3) we are doing all we can to save you.
— Leni Robredo (@lenirobredo) November 17, 2020
"You do not have to broadcast every move, every help you want to give to the people. Mas maganda yung tahimik lang (It would be better if you do it quietly)," Panelo said. — The STAR/Alexis Romero
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