The sky was unusually clear over Canatuan that afternoon; there will be no
rain as has been the case over the past few days. The warm air over this mountain
village ironically kept the school’s mini-auditorium cool even as it
was filled with people. There was excited anticipation as the mountain folks
tried to get a glimpse of the graduates, then already occupying their seats.
To everyone who had gathered there, these graduates will thenceforth be known
as the “Pioneer 11” – the very first class to finish high
school from the lone secondary level learning institution in this part of
Siocon town.

Sitting in front of the stage that was set up at the Siocon
National High School (SNHS) – Canatuan Annex were the proud parents
of the graduates. Other relatives, friends and neighbors, meanwhile, were
spread throughout the room to witness one of the year’s most memorable
events in this ancestral domain of the Subanon indigenous people (IP), hosts
to the copper-zinc mining operations of TVI Resource Development Philippines,
Inc. (TVIRD).

In 2005, the company, in cooperation with SNHS officials and with the blessing
of the government Department of Education (DepEd), constructed two classrooms
for what was to become the SNHS-Canatuan Annex campus beside the existing
Canatuan Elementary School, which TVIRD also helped refurbish. Since then,
TVIRD has been funding the salaries of the four high school teachers. From
an initial population of 32 in 2006, the number of high school students has
grown to reach 130 in the last academic year. Last year DepEd built two additional
classrooms to accommodate the growing student population.

Jose Dagala of TVIRD’s Community Relations and Development Office (CReDO)
said that of the 11 SNHS-Canatuan Class of 2009 graduates, seven belong to
the local Subanon tribe. The class valedictorian, Evelyn Magsayo, and salutatorian,
Baby Boy Villanueva, as well as two other graduates come from transient families
– Visayans who went to Canatuan in the ‘90s either to farm or
to take part in the small-scale mining boom in the area before TVIRD’s
arrival.

When her name was called for her valedictory address, pretty but shy Magsayo
went upstage. A daughter of hardworking parents who are now both into farming,
the unassuming valedictorian described the occasion as a “momentous”
milestone in her life”. “For me and the other ten ‘pioneer-graduates’
of Canatuan’s first secondary-level school, graduation is our triumph
over poverty, a triumph over hopelessness and the beginning of yet another
struggle to reach our dream.”

Magsayo also received the “Best in Math”, the “Best in
English”, the “Journalist of the Year” and the “Most
Diligent” awards, as well as a Service Medal from school officials.
She said she wishes to become a Certified Public Accountant someday so that
she will be able to help her aging parents and that, after college and the
board exams, she would love to work in TVIRD, “one of the best companies
I know for helping my school and poor people like me.”

On the other hand, Villanueva, whose motto is “Read today, lead tomorrow”
said he dreams of becoming a professional soldier.

“The Canatuan schools supported by TVIRD and the government are open
to all students,” Dagala pointed out. “Canatuan Elementary School
now serves more than 400 pupils, Subanons and non-Subanons alike, from Canatuan
and from adjacent villages. The same policy also exists in SNHS-Canatuan.”

He adds that TVIRD has supported both schools not only by way of constructing
classrooms and shouldering the teachers’ salaries, but also through
donations of computer units, books, a generator set, and laboratory equipment.
In addition, a 48-seater school bus acquired and maintained by the company
ferries students within the Canatuan ancestral domain and nearby communities
to and from school.

In his message to the graduates, TVIRD Vice President for Philippine Operations
Yulo Perez stressed the need for parents to persevere in their support for
their children’s education. “We need education for our advancement,”
he said. “We can only go far in this life if we have enough education.
As parents, this is our responsibility to our children. TVIRD, for its part,
will remain supportive of their education. It understands that this is one
way of capacitating the community to enable it to move forward on its own,
even long after mining has left this place.”

Vergel Marcera, SNHS-Canatuan head, is proud of the school’s first
graduates. “They are smart and intelligent. They have proven it many
times, including those opportunities when they won in academic contests against
other students in Siocon.”

For his part, school principal Javier Salvador said “our students could
not have reached this far without the support of TVIRD, which provided for
many of the needs of our students that the DepEd could not provide in order
for them to have quality education. Canatuan is lucky for having this company
around.”

Evelyn’s father, Crisostomo, expressed his thanks to TVIRD for all
the support it gave to his daughter. “Our house in Kilometer 8 is far
from Siay, the next village, which has a complete high school. If not for
the company, my daughter would not have been able to finish her high school.
An added bonus is the school bus that fetches the children to bring them to
Canatuan. That alone is good enough reason for us to thank the company.”

Evelyn related that there were times when the school bus could not serve
them. “This happened during rainy days, when roads were not passable
because of landslides. We had to walk for two hours just to reach the school.
But we did not complain. We know that the company is supportive of our education
not in words, but in deed. We are also aware that that the primary school
that we now have in Kilometer 8 was opened by the government with the help
of the company.”

Evelyn and her classmates still have a long way to go to reach their dream.
But judging from the determination and willingness to learn that they have
demonstrated, they are well on their way. They will continue to strive, knowing
that in their next journey, as in their last, they will not be alone. (Lullie
Micabalo)