By Edwin Fernandez – PNA News
COTABATO CITY — The Department of Education in North Cotabato and the local government units of Alamada and Kabacan have extended financial assistance to the families of two public school teachers who died in a highway crash last Saturday.
Dr. Omar Obas, North Cotabato schools’ division superintendent, said on Tuesday that financial assistance was extended by the schools’ division to the families of Melanie Iglesia and Tohane Macalipat, both teachers of Kabacan National High School (KNHS).
Obas did not reveal the amount of assistance but said it was enough for the bereaved families to provide the deceased teachers’ decent burial and other expenses.
Assistance was also extended by the local governments of Alamada and Kabacan to the families of the two teachers, as well as to some 40 students who sustained minor injuries and were already out of the hospital.
Both teachers accompanied 40 students of KNHS to the Alamada National High School for the provincial student leaders’ seminar that ended Saturday morning.
They were on their way home on board an Isuzu Elf truck driven by Jorge Fajardo when they decided to take a side trip to the scenic Asik-Asik Falls in Barangay Dado.
On their way back to Kabacan past 4 p.m., the accident happened when the truck’s brake system malfunctioned, sending the truck turning upside down.
Iglesia, who was three months pregnant, died on the spot after she was pinned by the truck while Macalipat expired as he was undergoing treatment at the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center.
Obas said the schools’ division has formed a special committee to probe the incident and to avoid similar incidents in the future.
Dr. Allan Farnazo, DepEd-12 regional director, suspended all off-campus activities for both public and private elementary and high schools across the region.
