Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Tuesday joined other government officials in assessing the extensive damage caused by Typhoon Tino and in providing urgent support to affected schools in Negros Occidental, including the fast-tracking of classroom repairs, learning continuity measures, and restoration of connectivity.

Angara was joined by Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, and local officials in meeting evacuees and stakeholders in flood-affected communities across the province.

The team inspected damaged schools and bridges and oversaw the distribution of Starlink units from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and laptops from ConnectED by Her Legacy Project Foundation Inc. at La Castellana Elementary School, Moises Padilla Elementary School, Roberto Salas Benedicto Elementary School, and Jose Pepito Montilla Garcia National High School to restore connectivity and support learning continuity. Each local government unit in Binalbagan, La Carlota, and La Castellana also received a Starlink unit.

“Ang tanong namin is what can we give right away?” Angara said, referring to the immediate requests raised by school heads.

“That’s what the school requested. They don’t have internet connection. That’s why we’re providing around 30 units of IT equipment—laptops and Starlink connectivity—for immediate deployment to the affected schools,” the DepEd chief added.

Angara also led the distribution of Edukahon packages containing food packs and learning kits as part of DepEd’s ongoing assistance to affected families.

Earlier in the day, during a courtesy call and situation briefing at the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City, Angara and Frasco met with Governor Lacson and other agency and local representatives to coordinate relief and recovery operations.

According to a DepEd situation report, Typhoon Tino damaged 1,726 classrooms across the Negros Island Region, including 277 totally destroyed and 424 with major damage, amounting to roughly P954.7 million in estimated reconstruction costs. DepEd-NIR officials confirmed that more than 64,000 learners and 3,500 education personnel were directly affected by the typhoon in the province alone.

“We are coordinating closely with the President and national agencies to accelerate the rehabilitation of affected schools across all impacted provinces,” Angara said.

DepEd’s regional and division engineers are conducting ongoing structural integrity checks, while minor repairs and cleanup operations have begun in coordination with local governments, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).