Masbate school torched

MANILA, Philippines - More than 200 schoolchildren in Masbate will be forced to attend classes in makeshift huts or under the shade of trees after unidentified armed men burned their school building last Monday.

Maj. Harold Cabunoc, spokesman of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division, said at least 10 heavily armed men torched the public school building in Barangay Gaid in Dimasalang, Masbate.

“Onlookers saw some of the armed men as they hurriedly departed from the crime scene while firing shots in the air,” Cabunoc said in a statement.

“Responding elements of the local police and the military found containers of gasoline believed to be used in starting the (fire),” he added.

The identities of the suspects are still being investigated, but Cabunoc said authorities are eyeing two possible motives for the arson.

Cabunoc said parents of children who did not benefit from a feeding program or politicians who want to use the incident to boost their image, could be the culprits.

“Disgruntled parents could have been behind the act since the building that was burned (had the) classrooms of pupils from Grades 1 to 3, beneficiaries of a feeding program wherein the children were given free rice. Those for Grades 4 to 6, meanwhile, were not,” Cabunoc said in a text message.

“Another angle being considered is political in nature. The structure was accordingly burned down so that a new one may be constructed by the incumbent political personalities in the area to serve as propaganda,” he added.

Cabunoc, however, said they are not discounting the possibility that communist insurgents may also be behind the incident.

“They (insurgents) may have been employed by unscrupulous politicians to carry out the terrorist act in exchange for future political favors,” he said.

The school, which has three classrooms, serves elementary pupils from kindergarten to Grade 6 and can accommodate 248 students.

“Classes will be conducted in makeshift huts and under the shade of trees,” the Army statement quoted Enna Cabintoy, the school principal, as saying. – With Cet Dematera and Michelle Zoleta