Riding Through Rollercoaster Waves in Tawi-Tawi and Sulu
Since August 2006, Synergeia has been crossing the seas of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu amid roller coaster[1] waves just to organize the parents. Together with the PMT, its aim is to reach each and every school. This meant having to meet around 1,000 parent-leaders from as much as 150 schools in both provinces.
The LGUs committed support in various ways. In Tawi-Tawi, Mayor Nurbert Sahali of Panglima Sugala lent the municipal speedboat for inter-island trips while the Bongao municipality under Mayor Albert Que provided vehicles and snacks for the parents. Other PMT members showed commitment in various ways.
With regard to the PTCAs, there were minor difficulties encountered in targeting the grade 1 PTCA leaders. Some schools have no homeroom PTCAs, only general PTCAs. Worse, other schools have no PTCA at all. Thus, we met all the grade 1 parents and/or general PTCA officers and conducted informal workshops to identify parent-leaders.
Such meetings were varied in a lot of ways. There were as little as 10 parents to as much as 100 participants in the meetings. It was observed that majority of the parents from the island schools cannot write. They also barely speak Tagalog. Some of them could not attend the meetings because they had farm and household work to do. Most left their plows and fishing nets and brought their babies to attend the meeting. Whenever classrooms were not available, meetings were conducted under the trees.
The deteriorating facilities were depressing, especially in the island schools. One  coastal school, for instance, was washed out when an unusual high tide occurred. Students from grades 1-6 are combined in one classroom with only one teacher, who also serves as the principal. [1] Worth mentioning, however, is the almost perfect attendance of the parents from this school.
In these trips, it was also found out that some schools are no longer operational. For instance, in Panglima Sugala, only 28 out of 32 schools are operating. Among the reasons cited by Hji. Abdurajik Saiyari, the District Supervisor, were the following: lack of teachers, severe deterioration of facilities, and family feud/conflict in the areas.
 Truly, transportation is a big problem in these areas. This difficulty was further tested when a boat carrying one principal and other parent leaders from Luuk Buntal Elementary School, an island school, capsized on their way back from attending a meeting. They were submerged in the sea for half an hour before a fisherman rescued them. Fortunately, nobody drowned. Bongao, another municipality in Tawi-Tawi, has its own share of the story. On their way to parents’ meetings, a district supervisor’s car was hit by a commercial jeep. Some passengers were hurt, especially when the jeepney rolled over the road for several times. Thankfully, those inside the supervisor’s car were unscathed. The principal and the district supervisor were as eager as ever to attend the upcoming activities.
In Sulu, peace and order problems, especially in Indanan, did not prevent the PMT from organizing the parents. For them, raising the numbers matter the most. In Indanan, 7 out of 10 grade 1 students do not know how to read while it is worse in Siasi. 9 out of 10 grade 1 students are non-readers.
Of late, the escalating conflict and violence in Sulu are being headlined in the news. However, working amid this condition are the brave members of the PMT who continue to reach out and organize the parents from the farthest corners of the municipalities.
[1] Synergeia was able to link up this school & others with similar situation to a potential donor in Manila.
[1] A term used by Ms. Fe Delantar, a trainor from the Ateneo de Manila University, to refer to the big waves that continuously shook the speedboat and caused mix emotions for them, such as excitement and fear, during several trips to island schools in Tawi-Tawi to conduct the parents’ trainings.  
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