FERVENT CHILDREN OF BAYUGAN.
Manobo and Visayan children at a hinterland elementary school in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur run by the nuns of the Missionary Sisters of Mary rehearse their repertoire for an inter-schools festival. They are quite fervent as they sing the national anthem and salute the flag although their plight tells a lot how the government they have pledged their loyalty to have acutely neglected them. Social services rarely reach their community and they only get to have a taste of government presence during election season and military operations when government agents and politicians promise them the moon and the stars. It won't be long before they lose their innocence and come to ask basic questions and seek answers elsewhere. (Sitio Tagpalico, Barangay Santo Nino, Bayugan, Agusan del Sur. October 21-25, 2009)
RESPONSIBILITY comes at a young age.
The boy attends to a more pressing concern before going to school -- letting the family carabao graze and making sure it gets a dip at the river every morning. (Brgy. Sto. Nino, Bayugan, Agusan del Sur. October 26, 2009)
STONEMILL.
Carl Adolp Pansoy, a seven-year old Manobo boy grinds precious corn on a stone mill, a family heirloom, for their meal. He attends classes at the hinterland multigrade school. He says he will be a farmer and vows to take care of his widowed mother when he grows up
SMILEY.
Wilson "Plong-Plong" Sandaya, a seven-year old Manobo boy, is all smiles upon sensing a photo opportunity. In 2008, German doctors who did a medical outreach in Agusan del Sur postponed his harelip operation until his respiratory illness, probably tuberculosis, is cured. Treatment is uncertain since Plong-Plong's family obviously could not afford medicines, and so his cleft stays indefinitely. (Sitio Tagpalico, Barangay Santo Nino, Bayugan, Agusan del Sur. October 21, 2009)
