By JUNE S. BLANCO

REP. Erico Aumentado (2 nd District, Bohol) has inserted 25 new secondary and integrated schools for building allocations in next year’s budget. The buildings these schools now use are either makeshift structures or dilapidated ones badly in need of repair as they already pose as hazards to the students and teachers’ health. Aumentado said the students’ and teachers’ predicament had prompted Bohol Schools Division Superintendent Lorna Rances to submit to him her “wish list”. They fall into the category of “black” and “red” schools as well as “makeshift” that easily qualified them as top priorities under the special provision of the General Appropriations Act of 2012. To top it, the solon informed Rances that these schools now also have appropriations – although the minimum – in the 2012 GAA despite her “eleventh hour” request. He attached a copy of the pages of the 2012 GAA indicating these schools and their allocations to his letter to Rances.

Aumentado further said that the budget call next year is set in February so that he asked her to submit within the first half of January the respective budgets of all high schools in his district to the Region 7 office of the Department of Education (DepEd) for its endorsement to the national office. A copy furnished him would serve as his guide during the budgeting season as well as to follow up with DepEd to ensure their inclusion in the national expenditure program (NEP). He also said DepEd will be hiring about 30,000 new teachers – 30 items for which are initially allocated to him. The solon urged Rances to ask for even more as his recent rounds of several islands and some far-flung barangays in his district showed that some teachers still handle two grades or combination classes at a time. He said this arrangement is not conducive to good education. To note, the solon earlier wrote Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya (1 st District, Cavite), chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, thru Rep. Thelma Almario (2 nd District, Davao Oriental), chair of the Sub-Committee on Education, to request for the inclusion of the budgetary requirements for these secondary and integrated schools in his district in the fiscal year 2012 budget.

Rances had recommended that list.

These are the Bonbonon High School (HS), Gaus HS, Basiao HS and Campamanog HS all in different islets in the island town of Pres. C. P. Garcia; Cagting HS, Bulilis HS, Tapal Integrated School (IS) and Tubog IS all in Ubay town; Sebastian A. Jala Memorial HS in San Miguel town; San Isidro IS, Cataban IS, Mayor Catalino Casoyla Memorial HS, Ponciana E. Leoligao HS and Santo Niño HS all in Talibon town; Pandanon HS in Pandanon Island in Getafe town; Danahaw IS in Clarin town; Inabanga North IS, Cuaming HS in Cuaming Island and Dagnawan IS all in Inabanga town; San Miguel Puertos HS in Dagohoy town; Soom Integrated IS in Trinidad town; San Isidro IS and Japer Memorial HS both in Sagbayan town; and the Cabanugan IS and the Candungao HS both in San Isidro town.