Wormish naivete 

With systematic failure yet again claiming the life of a vulnerable child, it is undoubtedly horrific how the Department of Education (DepEd) has yet to catch a glimpse of accountability. This remains evident as a Grade 4 Pupil from Hugo Perez Elementary School-Annex died following a deworming activity to remove Soil-Transmitted Helminth (STH) infections at the school, a foul testament to the spontaneously negligent conduct of such programs without proper medical check-ups — a necessity that the modus operandi of DepEd always seems to be in short supply. This malevolent scheme only continues to harm not just children, but also emphasizes the lack of attention to the root causes of such wormish naivete.

On the other hand, the 8-year-old’s death has been confirmed to be a cause of septic shock, primarily as the boy already had lingering infections. With due investigation, DepEd and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have yet to release an official statement on whether the deworming activity had an association with the child’s death. Having said that, DepEd is not at fault as the parents’ consent was also obtained before continuing the process of said activity.

Although beneath this lies the officials’ oblivious whitewashing of a life claimed. Despite the incident recurring, the latter, as well as the Department of Health (DOH), concurrently fail to hold themselves accountable as they once more conform to the culture’s longevity, arguing that Albendazole’s efficiency has lasted them from 1999 until the present day. As the departments’ heedless hypocrisy continues spiraling, what remains is inaction — a setback for the other 3,600 students in Mindanao and the subsequent pupils from the same school that was rushed to hospitals after taking said deworming pills. Mass hysteria has led to the government body’s ignorant ideals to pursue such programs without ever being held responsible, a feat of victory for their inhumane pursuance of “leaving no learner left behind”.

Furthermore, it is ironic how such a detrimental event relies on teachers and parents’ consent, as the two parties lack the proper knowledge of how to properly manage deworming and its aftereffects. DepEd Order No. 10, S. 2016 states that administering the Albendazole tablets is left to the hands of a teacher and only another parent or teacher that assists with the documentation, emphasizing how professional medical check-ups were never to be found. An egregiously “profound” activity is meagerly a deconstructed reform of yet again treating educators as the entrant for every profession in the world, a one-way street for DepEd as the blood never stains their hands. This nonetheless leaves nought but another discrepancy from the department itself — simultaneously feeding off of the neediness in government-issued health workers.

Moreover, these remedies serve as nothing but a mere band-aid solution for the underlying issue that correlates education and poverty-rooted cycles. Due to poor health care and inaccessible safe drinking water, 16 of 17 regions are endemic with more than 50 percent prevalence of STHs, and DepEd states how one in every two schoolchildren is infected with worms. This detrimental obscurity stems from the nation’s inadequate programs for lifelong resolutions in terms of STHs in spite of the pre-existing deworming event — a construct of half-baked plans for problems that remain as a primary issue for the country. Hence, as 50.3 million Filipino families—10 million families—remain overshadowed with sheer tablets as their only hope in exchange for no access to safe sanitation services, worms will continue to gnaw on the futures of Filipino children.

Ultimately, mass drug administration (MDA) should not be the only way out of a significant challenge for this sovereign. DepEd, in hand with NBI, must thoroughly investigate the 8-year-old’s cause of death, and must temporarily halt MDA activities unless the rise of side effects for Albendazole can be substantiated by medical professionals. In addition, Barangay Health Workers (BHW) and the Local Government Units (LGU) should assign nurses/doctors for every school within the area, and conduct background check-ups for each student in spite of any lingering history of a pupil that could initiate harmful results. Lastly, DepEd and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) ought to implement annual or monthly programs per school that ensure the safeguarding of not just the MDAs, but also home visitations for struggling pupils that may signify the stagnant point of STHs in the country. 

Worse still, the blatantly predominant yet repetitive nature of DepEd will only continue to allure outside of deworming activities, as even surface-level issues fail to hold them accountable for such wormish naivete.