Soldiers trade arms for brooms to help in campus clean up

MANILA, Philippines - Army soldiers will temporarily set aside their rifles this week and will be armed instead with brooms and other cleaning tools to prepare public schools for the opening of classes.

Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr., chief of the Army’s Civil Military Operations Group, said the Army has deployed about 200 soldiers to 12 schools in support of the Education department’s “Brigada Eskwela.”

“Brigada Eskwela 2013 is not a temporary commitment of the Philippine Army and about merely cleaning and fixing school facilities, it is a pledge for attaining quality education and providing a safe environment for the students this coming school year,” he said in a statement.

The program started Monday and will end on May 25.

Burgos said the Army has also sent computer technicians and electricians to assist in the repair of computers and other classroom equipment.

Meanwhile, troops securing the West Philippine Sea will also participate in the program.

1Lt. Cherryl Tindog, spokesperson of the Palawan-based Western Command, said their troops are working closely with parents, teachers and students of the Puerto Princesa Pilot School and East Central School.

“Marine Battalion Landing Teams 4 and 12 under the 3rd Marine Brigade will also team up with some schools in the north and south Palawan for the Brigada Iskwela in their respective areas,” Tindog said. – Catalina Madarang