BATO, Leyte—Jesus Menjani Esmani, 48, surveys his classroom and finds it in order.
The Badjao native from Jolo, Sulu has been teaching high school students for 17 years since his parents migrated to Leyte province when he was still a child.
“We are known for our nomadic life. Because of the education I got, I was able to find my permanent place here in Leyte,” says Esmani, who also happened to be the first professional among the over 600 Badjaos residing in barangay Dolho, in Bato, Leyte.
At present, he is a regular permanent teacher at Bato National High School in the town.
“My life was very difficult then. Most of my childhood days were spent at the sea, going fishing with my father. I soon realized that I have to study so I can lift myself from poverty,” Esmani adds.
“Education helps me overcome discrimination and hopelessness,” he says.
Salvador Lampinigan, 38, the second Badjao who got a college degree in Dolho, also shares the sentiment of Esmani, believing that “education will save our tribe.”
While still reviewing to get his professional teacher’s license, Lampinigan also finds time advocating the importance of education to his fellow Badjaos in their community.
“They are now more inclined to go to school instead of roaming around begging or doing nothing,” he adds.
Meanwhile, education officials in Leyte have pushed for various literacy programs for Badjaos and other indigenous people like Mamanwa and Manobo who are not able to enter formal schooling in the province.
“From Bato to Isabel and Burauen in Leyte, we have opened alternative learning system to bring education at their doorstep,” says Roberto Mangaliman, chief of the Alternative Learning System in the province.
“We have 302 teachers both permanent and volunteers working for their education,” says Mangaliman, adding that their literacy program is a step to preserve and promote the tribes’ culture and tradition.
Mangaliman says he is happy that their programs got all the support from Leyte division schools superintendent Ronelo Al Firmo.
“In Bato alone, there are 69 Badjaos attending classes,” says Maria Rita Salilin, ALS teacher.
“We also made them sign a covenant that they will fully support the program,” adds Rosemarie Guino, focal person for indigenous peoples in Eastern Visayas.
While tribal elders and parents are enrolled in ALS to learn basic literacy and numeracy, their children and grandchildren are also attending formal schooling in their villages.
“Some are slowly improving. Other are now learning, like in counting numbers and computation,” says Jumar Orias, the 29-year old “Abot Alam”-ALS volunteer teacher of the Mamanwa tribe in barangay Kagbana, Burauen, Leyte.
“It feels good to be in school. We learn a lot. This is important so we won’t feel ashamed of ourselves anymore,” says 49-year old Mamanwa parent Elma Banagbanag, in Waray, the local language.