DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Department of Education Davao de Oro Division will probe the death of an elementary school teacher after a statement from her family claimed she died from stress after an incident with her principal.
Marjorie Espinosa Llanto-Bolde, a teacher from Tibagon Elementary School in Pantukan, North District, died on September 19. One of her relatives, Hannah Llanto, made a Facebook post that claimed the school principal, Alvin Escobar, insulted Llanto-Bolde in a meeting that triggered her stress.
The meeting was held last September 4 when a parent complained that her daughter wounded her head under the class of Llanto-Bolde.
Screenshots of a group chat revealed Llanto-Bolde felt humiliated by the remarks from Escobar who questioned how she disciplined her student. She told the mother in the group chat that the matter could have been addressed to her directly without raising it to the principal.
“Nag answer sila sa math, ako na busy ko ug check sa mga nahuman ug answer sa math..Lalit lang na ning hilak ug nagdugo ang ulo..Ako gipangutanan. Ning sayaw daw siyag pinahigda unya naigo iyang ulo sa bangko (They were doing math, and I was busy checking their answers. Suddenly [she] cried and her head was bleeding. I asked what happened, she was lying on her chair dancing and bumped her head on the chair),” Llanto-Bolde explained the incident on the group chat.
A report from Brigada News Davao interviewed Llanto-Bolde’s daughter, Glorife, who said they didn’t know about this matter until her mother passed away. She believed her mother kept this pain to herself for the past weeks until she went hospitalized on September 17.
Llanto-Bolde was a teacher for 31 years.
DepEd Davao de Oro released a statement on Sunday, following the viral posts from Llanto-Bolde’s family that they will look into this matter.
“DepEd-Davao de Oro assures the public that it will thoroughly conduct an investigation on the cause of her death,” their statement said.
DepEd Region 11 spokesperson Jenielito Atillo said in an interview that the region will also conduct its own probe against Escobar. He added that the regional director has the authority to mete disciplinary measures on this matter.
Escobar reportedly did not report to his school on Monday, September 23.
The teacher’s death and the claims of her family went viral on Facebook, with netizens blaming the principal and even the parent who raised the complaint.
But health and green advocate Leo XL Fuentes pointed out that the health of teachers must be addressed as they face stressful work environment and are underpaid.
“Yung teacher na namatay sa (The teacher who died from) stress is actually just a symptom of a deep-seated educational crises. Teachers are overworked and underpaid. Thus, health is often neglected,” Fuentes said. (davaotoday.com)
Davao de Oro, DepEd, teacher
