Teachers volunteer to be deployed to Pag-asa Island

Several teachers from Quezon, Palawan volunteered to be deployed to the Pag-asa Island Integrated School, located in the Kalayaan Island Group where foreign vessels have continued to roam its waters.

According to Eunice Grace Cabitac, one of the teachers in the school, they were hopeful that students in the area would be successful in their chosen fields, and someday serve as leaders.

“Malayo man kami sa pamilya, pero masaya kami na nakikita namin ‘yung mga estudyante na natututo sila habang nandito kami,” she said in JP Soriano's report on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

“Siguro, hopefully, magagamit kami sa kanilang pag-aaral na mai-ano ang aming kakayanan,” she added.

(We may be far from our families, but we are happy to see our students learn while we are here. Maybe, hopefully, we serve as vessels as we use our abilities for their education.)

At 32.7 hectares, Pag-asa was the biggest island among the Kalayaan Island Group, located 277 kilometers from Puerto Princesa in Palawan.

The Pag-asa Island Integrated School currently houses 83 students in two classrooms, with more students expected to enroll moving forward as the island welcomes more residents.

Just last week a Chinese Navy ship tailed the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels en route to Pag-asa Island for a maritime patrol mission and marine scientific research.

For its part, the PCG has repeatedly reiterated Philippine ownership over the area, which is also considered a critical biodiversity area crucial for the sustainable supply of fish in the country.

“Pag-asa belongs to the Philippines, so regardless of whether they’re there or they’re not there, we still have the sovereignty rights to do this kind of scientific research that falls within the waters in Pag-asa Island,” PCG West Philippine Sea spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA Integrated News