School head, teachers in hot water over classrooms used as “canteen”

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Education Toledo City Division is sending a team to investigate the alleged selling of food snacks in the classroom and students engaging in lending and borrowing of money just to sell all of their teachers’ goods at Carmen Elementary School in Toledo City.

Five teachers and the elementary school principal are now in trouble following the complaint of couple Diomedes and Jocelyn Villar, who wrote Acting Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Rodulfo Elman.

Dr. Ronald Gutay, DepEd Toledo City Schools Division superintendent, told The FREEMAN that they do not condone the use of the classroom as a “canteen.”

“We do not tolerate this one and I always discussed this during executive conferences,” he said in a telephone interview.

DepEd Order No. 8 series of 2007 (Revised Implementing Guidelines on the Operation and Management of School Canteen in Public and Secondary Schools) sets that only a school-managed canteen or a teacher’s cooperative-managed canteen are allowed and that both should not be managed by a teacher.

“Hindi kasi nailalagay sa order ng DepEd na ang classroom ay gawing canteen so hindi talaga pwede ang ganyan kasi ang teachers may sweldo tapos lugi naman ang DepEd kung magtitinda na lang sila (DepEd does not allow teachers to make the classroom a canteen. 

They are paid to teach DepEd is at the losing end if they just sell goods) ,” Gutay said.

DepEd-7 Director Carmelita Dulangon instructed Gutay to immediately look into the complaint.

“Ang maestra magtudlo ug dili maninda unless dunay cooperative unya kahibalo ang eskwelahan… dapat pud ang gikaon nutritious kay mag-feeding man gani ta.  Basta ang main job sa maestra ang pagtudlo ug dili tindera (Teachers are there to teach not to sell anything),” Dulangon said.

Last Monday, the Villars wrote Elman to complain against School Principal Hermigilda Basalo Malapitan and teachers Nancy Allarse, Webina Jaranilla, Neone Parame, Philine Carreon and Filomina Tolentino.

The couple’s children were the ones who informed their parents that Allarse was asking P3 for a ginisal nga talong (sautéed eggplant), which Jaranilla allegedly does also.

The pupils were allegedly prevented by the said teachers to go out of the classroom if the food they sell were not yet sold.

The couple alleged that another teacher was also seen spending time playing a game in her laptop instead of discussing the lesson.

Aside from Jaranilla and Allarse, the other teachers reportedly also have their students sell food for them and that Malapitan did nothing about it.

Malapitan and the teachers are now being asked to submit their respective explanations. — /RHM (FREEMAN)