00:00A viral video showing children clambering onto a backhoe to reach Pisumpongan Integrated School
00:06has prompted government action with the Department of Social Welfare and Development
00:10launching a community-built hanging bridge to ensure safer access.
00:15Noel Talacay reports.
00:18This is Pisumpongan Integrated School, located in geographically isolated area
00:25in the municipality of Midsalip, Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao.
00:30Almost all students cross a river just to be able to attend class.
00:38In a viral video, student children are seen racing to get on board a backhoe just to cross the river
00:51and attend classes at Pisumpongan Integrated School.
00:56Now, I took that video because, not to go viral, not to go for attention,
01:02but I want to show if the press, if the Filipino people could see that video, I hope there's someone would act.
01:11This is the river of Barangay Pisumpongan, Midsalip, Zamboanga del Sur in Mindanao,
01:17where children cross this river just to attend their school.
01:22But the challenge is, if there is heavy rain, because the water level here,
01:29it reaches sometimes up to the chest of the children.
01:33Today, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gachalian visited the area
01:39during the agency's conduct of its Calahisids program,
01:42which includes the construction of a hanging bridge worth over 1.3 million pesos,
01:51and it is projected to be completed before April next year.
01:56Yung kalahi kasi, ang kakaiba dito, yung komunidad ng pumipili ng proyekto,
02:00sila yung tutulungan natin sila mag-design, sila na rin mag-i-implement at sila mag-procure.
02:05The secretary says that this is government's response after seeing the viral video,
02:11the DSWD and a media convoy crossed three rivers just to reach the said school.
02:19Ang instruction sa akin ng Pangulo, hanapin yung lahat ng mga rivers na may school
02:25para yung mga bata mailigtas natin mula sa panganib.
02:28Because of Calahisids, another bridge was built over the Dipoli River in Barangay Lower Timonan,
02:36municipality of Dumingag, which is now being used by residents of nearby barangays such as Uguan and Marilag.
02:46Calahisids, a community-driven project of DSWD, has been running for over 20 years,
02:53meaning the projects, the proposals, and the implementation come from the community itself.
03:00From 2003 to 2024, the said program has built over 1,600 bridges.
03:07Reporting from Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao, Noel Talacay from the National TV Network for New and Better Philippines.
