The Extra Liter Paglaum Pupils Had to Carry

Posted on August 27, 2026 at 9:12 am

Tacloban City — Every school day, pupils at Lorenzo Daa Memorial School in Barangay 103-A Paglaum used to bring something extra from home.

Not food. Not school supplies.

Water.

Each child was asked to bring about a liter of water, mainly so the school’s toilets could be used.

“Teachers and learners, they ask their parents to bring one liter per learner,” school principal Eric John Estoque said. “They have to bring one liter of water para CR.”

It was a simple workaround to a problem the school had been dealing with for years.

The school had a well and a water pump. But the pump eventually stopped working. The motors were damaged, and some of the pipes used to distribute water around the campus were already broken.

“Meron kaming well dito pero there’s no water already,” Estoque said.

So parents sent water with their children.

For the pupils, it meant one more thing to carry on the way to class.

For their parents, it was one more thing to remember every morning.

Now, that may soon change.

A school in Barangay Paglaum

Lorenzo Daa Memorial School has 143 pupils and is located in Barangay 103-A Paglaum, one of the communities away from the busier parts of Tacloban City.

The barangay’s name carries a fitting meaning. “Paglaum” is a Waray word that means “hope” in English. It is the name of the barangay where the school stands.

For years, however, daily life at the school has involved problems that have little to do with the hopeful meaning of its name.

Getting to the school from central Tacloban takes roughly 30 to 40 minutes, depending on traffic and road conditions.

There is no regular jeepney route that goes directly to the barangay. People going to the area usually rely on private vehicles, motorcycles or whatever transportation is available.

Inside the school, transportation is not the only difficulty.

When heavy rain comes, parts of the grounds become muddy and difficult to pass through.

The school also has limited storage space. Laptops, television sets and other equipment have had to be kept at the back of buildings because there is no proper room for them.

The library has a room, but it is small. It also shares space with the principal’s office.

There are two classrooms that have deteriorated and need major repairs.

For teachers, these problems have simply become part of managing the school day.

Teachers find ways to cope.

Pupils adjust.

Parents send water.

Classes continue.

Then came the construction project

Lorenzo Daa Memorial School was selected as one of two public schools in Tacloban City to receive an infrastructure project through the U.S. Navy’s Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5 and the Philippine Army as part of Pacific Partnership 2026.

The work includes repairs to the school’s water system, concreting portions of the school grounds and rehabilitation of two classrooms.

For the school, the water project alone could remove one of its most persistent daily problems.

When the system is working again, pupils will no longer have to bring water from home just so the toilets can be used.

The repaired classrooms could also give the school more room to work with.

Estoque said he is considering turning one of the spaces into a canteen so pupils can have somewhere to eat instead of eating at their desks.

He also hopes to improve the library.

At present, the library and principal’s office share the same limited space. A bigger area would allow pupils to sit down and read without getting in the way of the work being done in the office.

“These are things that we really need,” Estoque said.

For him, the improvements are tied directly to what happens inside the classroom.

“We are really so happy and grateful,” he said, adding that better facilities would make it easier for the school to pursue its goal of providing quality education.

A project under a bigger mission

The construction work in Paglaum is part of the activities connected with Pacific Partnership 2026, a U.S. Navy-led humanitarian assistance and disaster-preparedness mission involving the United States, the Philippines and other partner countries.

The annual mission includes activities such as engineering projects, medical and dental services, disaster-preparedness training, professional exchanges and community engagements.

In Eastern Visayas, much of the attention is focused on preparing for disasters.

The region is no stranger to typhoons, flooding, landslides and storm surges. Super Typhoon Yolanda, which struck the Philippines in 2013, caused widespread destruction in Eastern Visayas and remains a reference point for disaster preparedness in the region.

Army Lt. Col. Joseph Sabas, public affairs chief of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division, said the partnership is also an opportunity for military units and civilian agencies to practice working together.

“The primary objective is to strengthen humanitarian assistance and disaster-response capabilities while enhancing interoperability among the participating forces and civilian agencies,” Sabas said.

In practical terms, the groups involved need to know how to work with each other before a disaster happens.

During a typhoon, there is little time to figure out who will provide transportation, where supplies will be staged, how communications will be handled or how teams will reach communities that are cut off.

Those things are easier to deal with when agencies and responders have already worked together. 

Getting to the communities

That is especially important in places like Paglaum.

On an ordinary day, getting to the barangay already requires planning because there is no direct regular jeepney service.

During heavy rain or flooding, access can become more difficult.

Sabas said preparations for Pacific Partnership activities include transportation, staging areas, communications, medical support and backup plans.

The Army is also coordinating with local governments and other agencies to identify community needs and make sure planned activities fit existing disaster-preparedness programs.

The exact locations and activities in Eastern Visayas remain subject to coordination.

What the school will remember

Pacific Partnership 2026 will involve activities in several countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. Enduring projects are also planned in Fiji and Palau.

Several other countries are participating in the broader mission, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

But at Lorenzo Daa Memorial School, the international roster is not what pupils are likely to remember.

They will remember whether there is water in the toilets.

They will notice whether they can walk across the school grounds without stepping into mud.

They will use the classrooms that are being repaired.

And if the school’s plans work out, they may eventually have a proper place to eat and a larger room to read.

Those may seem like small things compared with the size of a multinational military exercise.

But for a school with 143 pupils, they matter.

No more bottle of water

For years, a liter of water was part of what pupils had to bring to school.

It was not something they needed for a lesson.

It was not part of their lunch.

It was simply water the school did not have.

The construction project will not solve every problem at Lorenzo Daa Memorial School. The library is still small. Space is still limited. Other repairs will still be needed.

But fixing the water system could remove one problem that children should not have had to carry in the first place.

Soon, they may be able to leave home with the usual school things – books, notebooks, pencils and lunch.

No extra bottle for the toilet.

For a school in Barangay Paglaum, “Hope,” that may be one of the simplest ways for the name of the community to take on a little more meaning.

Photos by: Jazmin Bonifacio

Photo Caption: U.S. Navy Seabees work on repairs at Lorenzo Daa Memorial School in Barangay 103-A Paglaum, Tacloban City, as part of Pacific Partnership 2026. The project includes fixing the school’s water system, improving parts of the grounds and repairing two classrooms.