A video of a female teacher went viral online for fearlessly climbing a flagpole without any harness or safety gear. But do we know the reason why she climbed up the flagpole?
“Naputol po kasi yung tali ng flagpole. Marupok na dahil sa laging naiinitan ng araw, so kailangan pong palitan at ipasok yung tali sa butas sa itaas,” Carol, who has been a teacher for 16 years now, told The Filipino Times.
With no other employees available to fix the problem, she took on the task herself. Driven by her dedication as a teacher and her desire to teach her students the importance of honoring the Philippine flag, Carol wanted to ensure it was fixed before the flag ceremony.
“Kailangan po naming ikabit nung umaga pong yun para sama sama naming saluduhin ng mga bata habang itinataas po ito,” Carol said.
In a 30-second video posted by Savidug Elementary School principal Arlene Castillo teacher Carol Figuro was seen climbing up the flagpole with a rope tied to her waist. When she reached the top, she removed the rope from her waist and inserted it into a small hole in the flagpole. Afterward, she went down safely without any difficulty.
Carol said she was used to climbing coconut trees in their area, so the task was not too difficult for her. “Sanay na po akong umakyat. Since Grade 3 po ako, umaakyat na po ako sa puno ng niyog kapag pumupunta po kami sa bukid. Laking magbubukid po kasi ako,” she shared.
When asked what the Philippine flag meant to her, Carol said: “Yung bandila po ang tatak nating Pilipino at kailangan po nating igalang ito.”
“Ang pagtataas nito ang isang way natin para maipakita ang pagmamahal natin sa bansa at sa simbolo nito kaya kailangan pong ituro rin sa mga bata,” she added.
The video posted by the school’s principal, Arlene R. Castillo, was played 12M times and earned 85K reactions, 2.7K comments, and 41K shares as of posting time.
Carol thanked all the netizens who appreciated her simple act. “Super overwhelmed po ako sa saludo at appreciation po ninyo sa simpleng act ko po,” she said.
“Hindi lang naman po ang pag-akyat sa flagpole ang ginagawa ko na men’s job for school and even po sa bahay,” she said.
“I was so thankful po kay Lord for blessing me with these talents na ginagamit ko naman po para makatulong sa iba. Super thank you po sa inyong lahat na sumaludo at nainspire po at thank you din po sa mga nagpaabot ng pagaalala sa akin. Thank you po kay Principal Arlene R. Castillo at kay maam Llewellyn Almeyda sa nagvideo ng pag akyat ko,” she added.
