By Leilanie G. Adriano (Staff Reporter)
LAOAG CITY—As various schools in this city gear up for distance learning under the new normal, some riders here have signified their intent to distribute learner’s modules for free.
In a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed between the Department of Education Laoag City and the Motorcycle Philippines Federation 128, Inc., both parties agreed that the modules, which teachers developed, the riders will distribute and retrieve for free to the city’s barangay village, including other municipalities if applicable.
Dubbed as project “Volunteer Riders Organized for Optable Module” (VROOM) Delivery, Gary D. Ronquillo, the motorists’ federation provincial coordinator said in an interview that as partners for education in the “new normal”, they are offering their services for the welfare of children in Laoag and Ilocos Norte.
“Over the years, we [riders] had been used to public service. This is the least we can do for our children during this time of crisis,” Mr. Ronquillo said.
With at least 30 active members who already signified their interest to help in the distribution of modules, Mr. Ronquillo said they will start with the big schools in the city as they hope to encourage more riders to support this cause.
To formalize the agreement, Laoag’s Schools Division Superintendent Vilma Eda and Mr. Ronquillo, representing the Motorcycle Philippines Federation, signed the MOA on August 14, 2020 at the Ilocos Norte College of Arts and Trades.
Aside from the volunteer riders, barangay officials from the 80 barangays here also expressed their support in the delivery of modules for learners who opted for modular learning modality.
Based on the latest learner's survey, majority of the more or less 22,000 enrolled learners in Laoag public schools prefer modular learning and the local DepEd this will carry this out during the opening of classes on October 5, 2020.