Lessons from the tragedy on the road

After what was dubbed a successful presentation in front of the regional officials of the Department of Education, ten students and a teacher from Basay, Negros Oriental, encountered an untimely accident, leaving five of the students dead. Others are still recuperating in the hospital. The teacher, who survived the accident, is feeling mixed emotions whether or not he should take the blame for what happened.

However, according to the Department of Education in Central Visayas, he is not at fault because it was an isolated case. It was an incident that was beyond anybody's control and that it should not be a ground to stop out-of-town activities for schools. In fact, they ruled out that most of the best learnings are learned outside the classroom.

I have to agree that the experiences that one learns from the different opportunities outside the classroom are irreplaceable but it is also risky at the same time. I remember having to convince my own parents for many weeks to be allowed to go on a trip to Baguio City to join the National Leadership Training for Student Government Officers. I got the go signal and enjoyed that part of my high school life. It was an experience I would never forget. Looking back, I'd say that most of my skills in school governance and leadership were acquired in these events.

If we have to pin blame, let’s blame the poor regulation of our mass public transit. Yes, there are laws in place that makes it all sound so good but this does not mean that it is followed all the time. In fact, it is most often disregarded. There is non-compliance to make up for the lack of transportation to ferry passengers from one point to another. What makes all this very sad is the fact that nobody seems to care at all. We only care about such regulation when something happens. Efficient or inefficient? I don't know. You all be the judge.

The DepEd is calling out to kind-hearted individuals who can help shoulder the expenses of those who are still in the hospital and for the bereaved families. They admitted that they don't have the finances to give financial support. I guess this is where we all come in. An accident that was beyond anybody's control shouldn't be any basis to neglect our care for one another.

This issue opens up to a lot of questions not just about how our education system is run but also on how we make do with our transport system. I hope this serves as a lesson to operators and drivers as well. There are many theories as to why the accident happened, but I would like to leave this to the investigator. We do not want this to happen again. Let's hope the transport sector will also make a move to improve their services.