Skip to main content

Duero Bohol DepEd Officials Under Fire

Ric V Obedencio - Bohol Standard - The row over the prize money of the Duero Central Elementary School (DCES) drum and bugle corps widens as the complainants, who are mostly parents, are still awaiting for the Ombudsman to investigate the mess.

Some 52 parents, whose children composed the DCES Drum and Bugle Corp (DBC) who won in 2007 showdown, signed a petition for the Ombudsman to look into the "mismanagement done by the DCES principal Dr. Lourdes Castillo and organizer Cora Escobal and coach Gina E. Jano."

It will be recalled that DCES DBC won the Alturas sponsored showdown last year pocketing the prize of P51,000 and another P35,000 prize.

DBC organizers agreed that the prizes won't be divided among the 115-strong DBC children-members but instead children will be treated to a tour. The balance will be used to acquire instruments for the DBC, said Castillo in a phone interview Friday.

In their petition, the accuser-parents alleged that DBC organizers including the school principal "failed to present to the parents of the participants an accurate and reasonable financial statement."

They (petitioners) said that the principal presented the financial statement during the Dec. 13, 2007 meeting but this cast "doubts" among the parents.

"The financial statement revealed only P16,000 as the Local Government Unit (of Duero) aid to the DBC for their participation in the Alturas showdown held at Tagbilaran City on Nov. 22, 2007." But the voucher showed P22,000 with PNB check No. 022921 issued on Nov. 22, 2007. And the said financial statement "never included" the total amount collected from the parents of non-participants (children in the DBC), who contributed P50 each parent, the petition claimed.

Castillo denied the allegations, saying that all the money were accounted for and supported by receipts.

Asked as to the Ombudsman case filed against her and other teachers and organizers, she said that the matter has already been addressed. She told this writer to refer the matter to the Department of Education through Ma. Linda Namocatcat.

Jeffrey Torralba, whose son was barred from participating in the DBC tour as their prize, said in an interview yesterday he will make a follow up of the petition at child and women desk of Ombudsman in Manila.

Earlier, Castillo and other teachers were accused of child abuse rap filed before the Bohol Provincial Prosecutors Office (BPPO). Eventually the said case was dismissed.

But complainants Arcadio Aguiman and Jefferson Torralba filed a joint motion for reconsideration, arguing that BPPO relied on the ground that there was a deadline set for the children to submit parents consent to be able to participate in the tour here in Tagbilaran City.

Popular posts from this blog

Antonio Ong Guat, the founder of Bohol Quality Store

From Sunday Post   I pay my sincerest condolences to Antonio Ong Guat, the founder of Bohol Quality Store . My family especially my late Mom owed a lot of gratitude to him. Little is known of the fact that my Mom as a school teacher, was making school teaching charts with her crude rubber printing set. I used to accompany her to Tagbilaran to buy her supplies at Bohol Quality Store, and bought her supplies direct from Ong Guat. Suki niya si Ong Guat to the point that he would attend to her when she goes to the store. In fact, nagpapautang pa siya ni Mom, which she paid when she sold her teaching materials to the new teachers. I suggest that the provincial and city governments should honor Ong Guat with a posthumous award in recognition of his efforts to be the founder of a business empire in Bohol, which has presently employed thousands of Boholanos presently. I think everybody agrees that his store sparked business to its fullest heights today. Fred Ong and his wife Babs Gonzaga we
Read more

About Fr. Josemaria Salutan Luengo

By Atoy Cosap Relatives and friends of the late Rev. Fr. Josemaria Salutan Luengo can bid their last farewell on Tuesday before he will be laid to rest at the Tubigon Catholic Cemetery after a requiem mass at 9 a.m. at the St. Isidore Parich Church in Tubigon, Bohol  . Fr. Luengo, who had been an inspiration to many, passed away last August 29, due to complications following a stroke in 2004.  It maybe recalled that sometime in 2000, Fr. Luengo undergone a heart by-pass operation in the United States. Some of his greatest legacies of being a priest, educator, and philanthropist were the establishments of Mater Dei College and Salus Institute of Technology in Cabulijan, Tubigon, Bohol.  He also supported the studies of some deserving youth who later became priests, CPAs, mentors, engineers and other professionals. Oyong as he fondly called by his relatives and friends, Fr. Luengo founded Mater Dei College in 1983 and Salus institute of Technology in 1998.  Now, the schools have expan
Read more

Bohol Gov Flies to South Korea

Governor Erico Aumentado will leave for South Korea Tuesday to attend groundbreaking ceremonies for the pilot algae bio-ethanol processing plant in Goheung County , and to meet with senior economic ministers in Seoul to discuss the mega projects for Bohol proposed for Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding. From Goheung, the Aumentado team will proceed to Seoul to meet with Man-Soo Kang, senior economic adviser to President Lee Myung Bak and chair of the Presidential Council on National Competitiveness as well as former Ambassador to the Philippines and adopted son of Bohol Minister Choi Joong-Kyung, now presidential senior secretary on economic affairs. Top in the agenda for the meeting arranged by Man Hwan Park, Philippine country representative of the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) Korea Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) are the Bohol Circumferential Road Improvement Project Phase 3 (BCRIP 3), implementation of the multi-industry cluster (MIC) projects, the US$3-
Read more