Rising waters, rising children: Rights-based education for early-childhood and youth in Marikina
MANILA – In the flood-prone urban heart of Marikina City, where rising waters often wash away more than just property, a small learning center continues to nurture what is perhaps the most enduring resistance: the awakening of critical consciousness among children and youth.
For 40 years, Batibot Early Learning Center has stood as a beacon of community-driven education in Industrial Valley, Marikina City. Founded and sustained by local leaders, Batibot has long gone beyond teaching ABCs — it teaches its students to question, to care, and to act.
In 2024, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente supported the sustenance of Batibot through their ‘Eskwelayan’ program, providing logistical assistance to the learning center. The program name blends three Filipino words: eskwela (school), kamalayan (awareness), and kalayaan (freedom).
“We are learning far from the traditional way,” said Ninya Villanueva, a 17-year-old student of Batibot. “In all lessons, we are tasked to bring our creativity to ensure that we can fully apply and learn the lessons. We learn about our human rights, the state of education, social issues, and even about our environment critically.”
The program, in partnership with the Old Catholic Diocese of Germany and Kindermissionswerk Die Sternsinger, is implemented with grassroots partner organizations. Batibot is their selected partner in Marikina due to the resounding problems in their community: poverty, housing insecurity, lack of access to education and healthcare, vulnerability to disasters, and threats to democratic rights.
Responding to community needs
Before joining Batibot, Ninya used to think the floods that repeatedly submerged her neighborhood were simply “natural” disasters. In class, she came to understand otherwise. She learned that there are components of government accountability and the severity of the situation could have been prevented.
“It is not a natural disaster. It was taught to us that quarrying, illegal logging, and other environmental violations cause widespread flooding in our communities,” she explained.
Her realization is part of Batibot’s approach to contextual learning — linking lessons to the lived realities of the students. While the national curriculum only offers disaster risk reduction (DRR) as a stand-alone subject in Senior High School, Batibot integrates DRR in every level, ensuring children understand their rights to safety, protection, and participation in building resilience.
“Since we are vulnerable to disaster, we integrate lessons on coping and other protective measures,” said Libertad Dipon, Batibot’s executive director. “Our learning center has key components designed specifically for children’s right-based education: care, community participation, and protection.”
Dipon, also known as “Teacher Libby” by her students and her community, has been teaching children and youth in the community since the advent of the learning center. Currently, Batibot is catering to 50 students: 30 preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years old, and 20 youth aged 9 to 19 years old.
Batibot is accredited both by the Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Despite its limited resources, its sustenance and continuous persistence is linked to the support of their community.
“Without the community, Batibot could not sustain itself. We build an alliance starting from the ordinary citizens up to the local government— the community must own and see themselves in the work that we do in the learning center,” said Dipon.
This learning center stands for nationalist, mass-oriented, and scientific education. Batibot’s framework of sustainability rests on five components: curriculum development, parent education, health and nutrition, community involvement, and income generation.
Rights-based education in action
At the heart of Batibot’s work is rights-based education — treating children as active participants and rights-holders, not passive recipients. This approach aligns with the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which the Philippines is a state party.
“In traditional schools, our rights are being taught based on the laws in the Philippines. In Batibot, we learned that it is inherent. We have four major rights: the right to live, the right to develop, the right for protection, and the right to participate,” said Villanueva.
She added, “In school, we are often prevented from participating, to just finish our studies so we can be successful in the future. We are not encouraged to participate in the learning process.”
As a state party to the UN CRC, the Philippine government is duty-bound to take all appropriate measures to ensure that child is protected — best interests of the child are fulfilled.
Arts and culture are closely integrated in the learning methodologies of the teachers. Through plays, storytelling, and interactive sessions, students explore human rights, social issues, and environmental awareness.
Due to the powerful use of arts in education and this creative pedagogy, children and youth have established Young Marikina Artists Collective (YMAC), a local cultural organization. Dipon said that the formation of the group also makes their students more involved in the community.
“Through cultural forms and arts, the youth raise the awareness of other children in their community, using their talents to campaign for social change,” said Dipon.
The establishment of a youth-led organization also strengthens their bond, Villanueva said. “It has become a place where we can connect with each other.”
“Here, we aim for the holistic development of talent. We use these talents in sports and arts to educate more children and encourage them to be more involved with social issues. Our activities involve dancing, singing, arts workshops, and sport clinics,” said Villanueva.
It has also become a platform for former students to have continuous engagement with the current students of Batibot. Dan Mark Kevin M. De Los Reyes, a former student of Batibot and also a member of YMAC, shares his fulfilling role in providing activities for other youth of Marikina.
“We organize seminars on mental health, teenage pregnancy, environment, and more. We also actively take part in responding to the disasters, providing relief and medical assistance and joining clean-up drives in our community, especially those severely affected by widespread flooding,” said De Los Reyes.
He also underscored that his engagement with the organization and the community boosts his confidence. “I gained the courage to speak in public every time we have an activity and sometimes, I am the speaker [for other topics].”
Parents participation
It is important to involve the parents in the childhood education. Dipon shared it is important to have a program that suits both the child and the parents. “When we are discussing human rights at first, the children are shocked that they have the right to participate,” she said.
“When the parents themselves do not grasp this, it impedes the development of the children,” she added.
In their framework, Batibot also provides education for the parents: childhood development, child and human rights, and social issues of their community.
“If the parents and the children have a different point of view, it will be hard for their learning development. We have to share with them what progressive discipline is. What happens in the school should also happen in the house — they should talk to their children, process their problems, and avoid using violence as a form of disciplinary action,” Dipon emphasized.
The best interests of the child is the primary responsibility of the parents, recognizing it as their rights and duties in the UN CRC. The state shall render appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities and shall ensure the development of institutions, facilities, and services for the care of children.
Overcoming systemic challenges
Like many grassroots initiatives, Batibot faces significant challenges from lack of government support up to state attacks.
“Of course, a major problem in early childhood development is the lack of budget for it. Even in accreditations, they are requiring us a lot of documents,” said Dipon.
The 2025 report of Philippine Institute for Development Studies shows many Filipino children fail to achieve their potential due to inadequate early childhood care and development services, falling short of universal access for children.
“One in every three children is stunted, marked with alarming disparities, and nine out of ten children cannot read proficiently, characterizing a state of learning poverty,” the report stated.
There are three general observations upon looking at the systematic problem. First, the inadequate and untimely access to high-quality early childcare and parental interventions. The study found that there is evidence that indicates delays in providing stimulation and early education participation, which impacts the cognitive and learning abilities of the children in the long term.
Second, PIDS said that there is severe underinvestment in early childhood care and development — greater injustice lies in allocating services with limited effects on nutrition and education. It emphasized that the school feeding programs and supplemental immunization activities are temporary solutions and cannot address the systemic issues around weak primary care systems.
“Addressing chronic malnutrition requires continuous, integrated, and comprehensive provision of health and nutrition services at critical life stages,” the report added.
As beneficiary of the Eskwelayan project, Batibot ensures that health and nutrition is integrated in their learning sessions. “The support, through the Eskwelayan project, helps us financially especially in ensuring that we integrate health and supplemental feeding are present in our regular session,” Dipon said.
Lastly, weak institutions also hinder early childhood care development intervention implementation. PIDS said that the inefficiencies because of overlapping roles of key government agencies, lack of clarity in responsibilities, poor accountability, duplication efforts, and fragmentation in financing became major problems.
The parateachers and program coordinators of Batibot also experienced harassment from the state security forces, especially when they released statements about social issues.
“There is nothing wrong with advocating for the rights and welfare of the children, especially in these conditions where they lack support,” said Dipon. “We are able to overcome the attacks because the community helps and defends our learning center.”
As Batibot marks its 40th year, its vision remains steadfast — to continue nurturing children who know their rights and use their voices to build a better world.
“As long as there are children, we will not stop,” Dipon said firmly. “We will also not forget our students who chose to go back and give back to our learning center.”
In a city constantly tested by rising waters and systemic neglect, Batibot remains a small but steadfast current of hope — proving that when education is grounded in rights, even the most flood-stricken communities can learn to build higher ground together. (RVO)
Disclosure: The author wrote the article under the Iglesia Filipina Independiente’s Eskwelayan project.
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