DepEd secretary
surprises schools
with unannounced visits in Negros
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Education Secretary Armin Luistro and Regional Operations Undersecretary Rizalino Rivera yesterday conducted surprise inspections of public schools in Negros Occidental.

The secretary does not announce which schools he plans to visit to enable him to see the situation on the ground as it really is, Mildred Garay, Department of Education regional director, said.

The spot inspections conducted by the secretary in various parts of the country are aimed at getting a better picture of needs and gaps for proper intervention, Miriam Coprado, OIC of the Planning and Programming Division of the Department of Education, said.

The Philippine Army yesterday allayed fears of retaliation against the New People’s Army responsible for the deaths of two soldiers in the hinterlands of Cadiz City Tuesday and that civilians may be affected by their pursuit operations against the suspects.

Col. Oscar Lactao, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, yesterday said the 62nd Infantry Battalion, who suffered two casualties in the encounter in Brgy. Andres Bonifacio, Cadiz City, showed their professionalism and strict adherence to the Role of Engagement and International Humanitarian Law, by ensuring that no civilian was hit during the gunbattle, at the encounter site located near a populated area.

“We will just enforce the law,” Lactao said.

A 5-year-old girl who could neither walk nor talk who was trapped in the family’s burning hut in Sitio Candalaba, Brgy. Cabacungan, La Castellana, Negros Occidental, died at about 11:20 a.m. Tuesday.

Police identified the fatality as Jesil Sison, who could not get out of the house when the fire broke out.

Her mother, Gemma, told La Castellana policemen that Jesil was with her siblings LJ, 8, Eliza Mae, 7, Danny 3, and Dante, 1 when the incident happened, while she and her husband were at work.