Guidelines on the Suspension of Classes When Typhoons and Other Calamities Occur

DepEd Order No. 28, s. 2005

Yearly just in time when classes are in full swing, we used to experience weather disturbances as a result of typhoons.  We used to ask ourselves if classes are suspended or not.  So, for easy access of our followers, we are posting here the DepEd Guidelines relative to it.

A.  Automatic Suspension of Classes

The Department has established guidelines for the automatic suspension or cancellation of classes in all public and private elementary and secondary schools that do not require any announcement.

• When Signal No. 1 is raised by PAG-ASA, classes at the pre-school level shall be automatically suspended in all public and private schools.
• When Signal No. 2 is raised by PAG-ASA, classes at the pre-school, elementary and secondary levels shall be automatically suspended in all public and private schools.  PAG-ASA normally makes these announcements over Radio/TV broadcast media 11 in the evening and 5 in the morning.
• The  automatic  suspension of  classes  also  applies  to public school teachers  since  they  shall  be  required to  hold  make-up classes in lieu  of  the suspended  classes.  In  the  case of private schools, the suspension of work by school personnel shall be at the discretion of the school heads/directors/principals. 

     PAG-ASA normally makes these announcements over Radio/TV broadcast media 11 in the evening and 5 in the morning.  In the case of private schools, the suspension of work by school personnel shall be at the discretion of the school heads/directors/principals.

B.   Localized Suspension of Classes

In the absence of typhoon signal warnings from PAG-ASA, localized suspension or cancellation of classes in both public and private elementary and/or secondary schools in specific divisions may be implemented.

The Superintendent shall decide on the suspension of classes if such covers the entire division.  If the suspension is for specific schools only, the school principal/head shall decide on the matter.

Coordination with the local chief executives shall be undertaken at all times since they chair the local Disaster Coordinating Council (DCC) and can mobilized local government personnel to evaluate the threats to public safety such as heavy rains, earthquakes, floods, high tide and transport strikes.

As  head of the local  DCC,  local chief executives can  also decide on the suspension  of classes.  When  such  a decision  is made,  they  are  requested to inform the Superintendent and Regional Director so that the Department can helpin the dissemination of the information to the public.

C.  Parent’s Responsibilities

Parents have the ultimate responsibility for determining whether their children should go to school, even if no order for the suspension of classes has been issued, if they feel that traveling to or from school will place their children at risk. 

Parents wishing to ascertain whether or not to send their children to school should check for media advisories coming from PAG-ASA, DepEd, DCCs and the Local Government Units (LGUs).

D.  Announcements

Media outlets performing the public service of providing information on the status of classes should first of all refer to PAG-ASA and then to the offices of the DepEd, DCCs and the respective LGUs.

Parents wishing to ascertain whether or not to send their children to school should check for media advisories coming from PAG-ASA, DepEd, DCCs and the Local Government Units (LGUs).

1. Required Number of School Days.  Parents and teachers are reminded that the required number of school days for the school year shall be considered especially in holding make-up classes to offset the days when classes are suspended.  These make-up classes shall be held on Saturdays or on weekdays beyond the originally-set school calendar in both public and private schools.
2. School Officials/Personnel.  School officials, members of Disaster Coordinating Committees in schools designated as evacuation areas are requested to render service even when classes are suspended. They shall coordinate with the local government officials on rules orders, and guidelines prescribed for evacuation centers.

Investment Wise: Which Deserves to Receive More? Higher or Basic Education Sector

By Gilbert M. Forbes

DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON

Student activists from State Colleges and Universities (SUC’s) are crying a foul over what they say are budgetary cuts that the national government has slashed from their annual budget.  Commission on Higher Education on the other hand is saying the reverse otherwise. CHED Commissioner Patricia B. Licuanan explained that, instead of cuts, the budget actually increased by 10%.

Photo courtesy of google search.  Students while protesting budget cuts for SUC's

Collectively, SUCs have a student population of approximately 865,000 in 2009, which means that every student is subsidized by an average of PHP 24,000 per school year. Each Filipino family contributes PHP 1,185 a year to run these schools through their tax payments.  Public Basic Education on the other hand receives only PHP8,000 per student or only a meager 1/3 of their tertiary counterparts.  SUC’s have a total budget of PHP21,717,421,000 for less than a million students while DepED with PHP207,000,000,000 for more than 20 million student having a participation rate of only around 87% in 2009.  Aside from the yearly budget SUC’s received, quite a number of its students also receive scholarship grants either from politicians, private individuals, NGO’s and government agencies such as CHED and DOST.  Their basic education counterparts have none except for some instances.  SUC's also earn from rental of vacant spaces, stores, services, etc., which accordingly could be summed at around Php24 billion.  It's more than enough to finance their annual MOOE needs.

This gives us a clear picture of how disparity exists considering that both have a different degree of importance.  Of course, basic education sector, particularly those on the level where functional literacy is being developed should be the priority.  It should be where more investment from the government is needed.  No doubt about it.  Failure to do so will really be futile for the economy and the country’s continuing quest to eradicate poverty.

Studies have pointed out that for a person to be literate for the rest of his life, he should have reached at least level three reading proficiency level, or else, he would be going back to illiteracy.  Meaning, primary schooling until the intermediate grades is very important.  Functional Literacy on the other hand requires at least complete elementary and secondary education.

Scrutinizing the current set-up, behind increases that SUC’s received for so many years, they have completely failed to contribute to the over-all economic progress of the country.  In fact, SUC’s primary contribution is the worsening job mismatch.

Instead of developing and offering courses needed by the market, they simply competed with each other even with private colleges and universities in offering irrelevant courses.  Many even ventured on offering Nursing, Commerce and substandard teacher’s education.  In rural areas, none offered discipline in the field of Agriculture and Fisheries or Entrepreneurship which could have made a difference to the populace.

Most SUC’s have ventured on expansion, opening branches and extension services in rural areas offering courses which don’t match the need of the place.  A clear example of this are SLSU competing with PUP and PNU as well as with private colleges and universities in southern tagalog.  The end result, once, their students graduate, they troop to urban centers to look and compete with meager available jobs.  When they failed to find one, these students went back to their communities and end up as ‘tambays’ or unemployed.  Graduates however of ‘high end’ state universities or the bright ones end up serving not their home country but of foreign lands.

True as it may that reforms in Basic Education sector should not compromise the higher education sector, but investment wise, the government is but right to make budget increase or decrease as a condition to make higher education sector relevant.  Being relevant means not the ones riding with the trend but with what is needed by the labor market even if it is unpopular.

Their budgets for MOOE are slashed but still they have a budget and they are lucky enough than our public schools which receives little but are able to survive and maintain schools elegantly.  If ordinary elementary pupils could do service to our public schools in its basic upkeep.  In the absence of utility workers, they are the ones maintaining the cleanliness of the school by doing the dusting, sweeping, grass cutting, gardening, etc.  If these young children can do it, why not the college students?  May be, they deserve to visit one public non-implementing elementary schools and see for themselves.

Disparity also exists in its teachers.  Basic education teachers are paid less than the magnitude of their works as compared with their tertiary counterparts who are paid much higher.  At times double and more than triple plus the benefit of studying for free.

Truly, higher education in the country should play the role it is mandated and expected to do even if it is unpopular particularly the SUC’s.  They should be working in collaboration with other government agencies and the private sector as among equals not as an irrelevant walking encyclopedia or scholar; hence, it is people’s hard earned money that funds them.  And students aside from practicing their rights to protest should also consider contributing their part in the upkeep of their schools.

The government on the other hand should try its best to give if not more at least equal allocations considering the significant role of basic education for the eradication of illiteracy towards functional literacy.

See also:
Politicians Bias Treatment to Education, Laggard to the Attainment of EFA and MDG Goals
Usapin ng Access, Dapat Maging Pokus ng mga Pulitiko sa Kani-kanilang Programang Pang-edukasyon
State Universities and Colleges’ Budget Cut: Fact or Fiction? Learning To Read and Understand Budgets

Christmas: Why It Could Doesn’t Make Sense Anymore?

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON


Count down for Christmas has started.  With this, though I’m practically a Christian being a practicing Catholic, I am beginning to be uncomfortable with Christmas anymore.  Particularly here in our country and may be, the rest of the world.  Besides of it being too long, I just simply feel that it doesn’t make sense now.

To think that early on every September, Christmas, the materialistic feature attached to it by no other than secular or pagan culture has to be in the air.  Has its real meaning essence already been replaced by flashy material things further made complicated by evolution of fancy gadgets succumbing and addicting many?

Even if the religious, the leaders of various Christian denominations have been constant in reminding their flocks of its real meaning, their constant prodding seems to be or has continuously been falling on deep ears.

At present, to think of Christmas having nothing is unthinkable, for everybody, even the least fortunate will squander anything just to make their Christmas get along until New Year.  For some particularly the slum dwellers complemented it by gifts they receive from the gift giving projects of churches, the affluent, even politicians who take this as an opportunity to advance their ambitions.  Indigents in urban centers are receiving gifts while their counterparts in far flung areas remain untouched in destitution thus encouraging them to left for or migrate to cities as well while those who are already there are encouraged to stay in their inhumane dwellings.

I was reminded of our ‘kapit bahay’ in our barangay who happens to have a residential place to stay in a slum in our provincial capital city.  Every Christmas season, they left our barangay to stay with her husband who happens to be working there as a driver for according to her, they receive a lot of gifts not only from charity but even from the city government.  It’s more than enough to have for Christmas until New year.

With the amount of money set aside purely for fun, for self satisfaction and gratification, with no spiritual value at all, will God still happy about it?  And after all the glares and festive mood end, what are all left particularly for those who are just trying to make both ends meet?  What about to the struggling bourgeois and middle class?

This end result shows how media has become successful and powerful in setting the value system, even culture of the people.  Media has successfully emerged itself to be one of the institutions of society who’s power has threaten the very foundation of the family, the church or religion, and government.

One thing is certain; media is the main culprit why Christmas doesn’t seem to make sense anymore.  Media is the one who has contributed much to this mess.  It should help initiate and rectify these errors.

10 must-dos to improve RP education

Philippine Daily Inquirer

First Posted 18:34:00 06/13/2010


THE following is Education Nation’s 10-point Education Reform Agenda.

An Education President and his/her government must:

1. Promote academic excellence

We must develop individuals who possess information and communication skills, thinking and problem-solving skills, and interpersonal and self-directional skills acquired through a research-based curriculum that focuses on knowledge relevant to the real world.

To this end, we must develop globally benchmarked standards of performance for both teachers and students on which accountability will be based and establish a credible, reliable, and transparent monitoring, assessment, and evaluation system by an independent and competent institution.

2. Develop community ownership

Community involvement is a key element of a successful school. We must enable communities to organize themselves to ensure that the school stays focused on its goals and that interventions provided by different organizations are sustained. Community involvement in education unlocks local resources and energies and makes the schools more accountable, creating a better platform for sustainability.

To this end, we must mandate the local DepEd and the schools to recognize and work with their communities and allocate resources for capability-building programs for community groups.

3. Ensure universal access

We must ensure access to Education for all Filipinos regardless of social class, ethnicity or physical disability. Every Filipino has the right to quality basic education (including preschool).

To this end:

We must expand proven alternative delivery modes for education such as Project E-Impact that effectively address the challenges of huge class sizes and multi-grade schools.

We must continue and expand the conditional cash transfers program that has proven to help ensure that the poorest children go to school.

We must address education-access concerns of our differently abled and indigenous brothers and sisters, including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The role of non-formal education and alternative learning must be considered.

4. Build transparency and accountability across the system

Reforms are only possible if education policy and governance are founded on principles of inclusiveness, transparency and accountability.

To this end:

Government deliberations must be conducted openly and all relevant information should be made available to the general public.

The decision-making process must be inclusive and consultative. Local governments and parents must increasingly be involved in school-based planning.

The incentive structure must reward performance and discourage/sanction nonperformance.

Local School Boards must be reinvented and made functional to broaden participation and its functions.

Education delivery, administration, governance and accountability must gradually be decentralized to school and community level.

5. Provide adequate resources

We must provide adequate resources for the necessary inputs to achieve quality education for all.

To this end:

We advocate increasing the national budget for preschool and basic education to 4 percent of the GDP to attain the goals of “Education for All” by 2015.

We must all work together to ensure zero tolerance for corruption, waste and political influence in the allocation and disbursement of education resources.

6. Empower teachers

Teacher quality as manifested in professional knowledge, practice and commitment is indispensable for academic excellence and moral functioning. Teacher welfare and high morale are impetuses to lifelong professional development.

To this end:

We must ensure that every teacher is given the opportunity and the privilege for professional development through competency-based teacher standards in a continuum of pre-service and in-service training and development programs tied up to teachers’ career progression and teacher welfare/ incentive schemes.

We must support teacher development and welfare through incentives, increased training, moral fortification and professionalization of the teaching profession, enabling teachers to dream and make dreams happen.

7. Enhance basic education

Quality basic education is the foundation for vocational and higher learning. We cannot continue tolerating a weak system. We must stop wasting the many years and huge sums invested in system-wide education reform.

To this end:

We must ensure continuity of the Basic Education Reform Agenda and its key reform thrusts including competency-based teacher standards, school-based management and mother tongue instruction.

We must establish a universal preschool system that must include both local governments and public-private partnerships.

We must plan and begin the move into the global standard of a 12-year basic education track to address a key obstacle to quality education.

8. Support private education

A healthy education system must include an effective, vibrant and sustainable private school system. Difficulties of the private schools, exacerbated by system-wide deterioration of Philippine education, must also be addressed. 

To this end:

The establishment of loan programs and grant vehicles such as the Fund for Assistance to Private Education should continue to be supported by government to make private education at all levels more affordable to more people.

Public-private partnerships to deliver better education must be encouraged and expanded.

9. Strengthen higher education

A level playing field and academic and curricular freedoms are keys to strengthening higher education in the Philippines.

To this end:

We must revisit the original role of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

We must provide more resources for world-class centers of excellence and an expanded scholarship voucher system for higher education, rather than continuing subsidies for low-quality state universities and colleges and local universities and colleges.

We must make available government scholarships loans through SSS, GSIS or the banking system, on a “study now, pay when employed” scheme for needy and academically qualified tertiary and technical/vocational education students to enroll in accredited public and private higher education institutions.

10. Maximize alternative learning

Effective learning has been happening in and outside formal schooling. In ensuring access to education for all, the role of alternative learning systems (ALS) must be recognized in the education sector and the world of work.

To this end, we must develop a united platform for convergence of all ALS proponents and sectors and form a multi-stakeholder body for the measurement and assessment of ALS and for the accreditation and recognition of ALS graduates including employability.

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DepEd warns the public on all forms of violence against children in school

DepEd, July 13, 2011

The Department of Education will soon come out with a more comprehensive child protection policy to shield the child against abuse, exploitation and discrimination including bullying and other forms of violence against children in school. 

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said school personnel and the public in general must be reminded that corporal punishment and violence in any form is not allowed in public schools whether committed by adults or the children’s peers.

 “We reiterate that school personnel who commit such acts are violating the provisions of Batas Pambansa 232 and that they can be held criminally liable including dismissal from the service,” added Luistro. 

On the other hand, Republic Act 7610 listed down acts that constitute child abuse and are therefore considered a criminal offense. This includes psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment. Also included is any act by deeds or words which debase, degrade or demean the worth and dignity of a child; unreasonable deprivation of his basic needs for survival such as food and shelter; as well as failure to immediately give medical treatment to an injured child resulting to serious impairment of his growth, permanent incapacity or death.

In view of this, DepEd as early as 2006 issued DepEd Memo 297 Prohibiting Acts Constituting Violations of RA 7610 or the “Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act and the Family Code to set a limit on the substitute parental authority being exercised by some DepEd authorities. 

The order specified that substitute parental authority can only be exercised within the school premises and it shall be exercised only to protect and promote the physical, mental and moral well-being of the students.

To further strengthen the campaign against child abuse in school, DepEd is developing a more comprehensive policy in consultation with teachers and other stakeholders. 

“This is a serious matter that we  cannot put off nor delay because it involves the over-all well being of our learners which  when not addressed promptly may negatively affect them for life,” said Luistro. 

The proposed policy will cover measures to prevent abuses against children in the school and the processes to be observed when abuses are committed. It will also include the procedures to follow and possible referral to other concerned agencies. 

 Meanwhile, DepEd expresses its supports to the anti-bullying bill of Senator Antonio Trillanes which seeks to institutionalize its teaching in schools and the creation of public awareness on its ill-effects on child development. This is consistent with the mandate of DepEd which puts premium on child safety in schools while providing an environment conducive to learning.

DepEd also believes that addressing the issue on bullying in school cannot be simply addressed by dismissing or suspending the offending child because it requires a more thorough approach that involves both the school and the parents to be able to get to the root of why a child resorts to bullying. Oftentimes, bullying is a manifestation of problems that stem at home.      

Poverty and scarcity are no barriers to quality education

September 12, 2010 20:01:00

Christopher C. Bernido M. Victoria Carpio-Bernido

Philippine Daily Inquirer 

(The following is excerpted from a paper delivered at the Ramon Magsaysay Award lecture series.)

POVERTY and scarcity are proverbial constraints invoked to account for mediocrity in the education and training of the youth.

On the other hand, as physicists, we know that in the study of natural phenomena, the presence of strong constraints and boundaries in a physical system often leads to more exciting effects and, at times, even unexpected new phenomena.

Thus, when we decided to run the Central Visayan Institute Foundation (CVIF), we viewed the small high school as a microcosm of a longstanding nationwide educational crisis.

From our first day in 1999, we went for 100-percent immersion in the routines and challenges of daily school life, but with a 100-percent open mind for low-cost but effective solutions.

We could not discount the possibility that, far from being barriers to quality education, poverty and scarcity might just lead us to zero in on the core of the learning process.

The teacher problem

Let’s look at the [teacher] problem and take physics as an example.

In the Philippines, according to studies of the Department of Science and Technology, the percentage of qualified high school physics teachers dropped from 27 percent in the 1990s to a mere eight percent by 2003.

In the website of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (Seameo), accessed in 2010, the number is a more dismal four percent.

This has been attributed to massive migration of science and mathematics teachers to advanced countries, which can offer five to six times the basic salaries of public school teachers in the Philippines, with benefits for accompanying families. Add to this the big difference between the quality of life and delivery of basic services in the advanced countries and in poor developing countries.

Thus, in spite of the big-budget massive training programs of science teachers, the numbers have deteriorated to alarming levels!

The usual remedy clearly has not worked. Any additional training of teachers makes them more marketable globally, and it has become increasingly naive to expect high levels of altruism and patriotism. The more painful realization is that Filipinos are paying off loans incurred to train teachers for other countries.

Our solution: Rethink the role of the teacher in the learning process, and institute a program that would not be strongly dependent on teacher qualification, ability and personality, but at the same time should foster the professional development of the teacher.

This we implemented through the parallel classes scheme and activity-based features of the CVIF Dynamic Learning Program (DLP).

From the CVIF DLP experience, we also derived the strategy for the Learning Physics as One Nation (LPON) project launched in 2008 by the Fund for Assistance to Private Education with funding from the Department of Education (DepEd).

The LPON project answers the question: Can high school students learn essential physics topics effectively even if their classroom teacher has little or no physics training?

An assessment of the project after the pilot year of implementation indicates a positive response to this question.

LPON materials have been made available to over 200 private schools in all regions of the Philippines. These include a specially designed Physics Essentials Portfolio of 239 learning activities to be independently accomplished by students during one school year, and associated 18 DVD volumes of video lectures by national educators.

The materials are designed such that a command team can monitor student progress, and address questions from the field through e-mail, mobile phone text messages, Skype and fast courier services. The LPON prototype bypasses the need for qualified teachers and yet effectively prepares the students for college-level physics.

With assessments of student performance showing a positive trend, plans are to produce Learning as One Nation materials for all other science and math subjects following the LPON model.

The textbook problem

The DepEd has been working hard to reach the 1:1 textbook to student ratio. However, the quality of the textbooks is highly questionable. Indeed, which would be better, no textbook or a bad textbook?

Our solution: For public schools, pick a select team of experts that could conceptualize and design concise Learning Activities to be accomplished by students in class.

As in the CVIF DLP, only one copy per class is needed since the students will copy by hand the material from the board or from the screen. For schools with enough textbooks, teacher-made learning activities can be based on the textbooks and other reference materials, depending on the topic.

The science lab problem

This problem leads us to questions at a more fundamental level. Being theoretical physicists, we believe that, at the high school level, there is no need for expensive lab equipment to be able to learn scientific processes and methods of analysis.

For example, the simple pendulum can be used to demonstrate the scientific method of experimentation, analysis and inference-making. Moreover, the pendulum is a good model to highlight basic principles such as conservation of mechanical energy and simple harmonic motion.

Our solution: Strategically select cheap and simple experimental set-ups that demonstrate fundamental principles of science.

Interestingly, the National Research Council of the United States released the comprehensive “America’s Lab Report” in 2006 which questioned, among others, the benefits derived from the usual science lab education that has been implemented since the turn of the 20th century.

Tests of effectiveness

Have our solutions worked? For our school, we have seen marked increase in proficiency levels of our students, especially in science, math and reading comprehension. This is seen from their performance in college admissions tests and the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE).

The number of students who annually pass the University of the Philippines College Admission Test has increased to about 10 percent of the graduating class on average. This is high compared to schools similarly situated, and relatively comparable even to schools in the cities.

In the 2009 NCAE, 27 of the 115 CVIF senior students obtained an overall General Scholastic Aptitude (GSA) score in the range of 90-99 percentile rank. This means that 23 percent of the CVIF DLP students belong to the top 10 percent in the country. Of these, two students got a percentile rank of 99 and three 98.

This is a far cry from the single student who scored in the 90-up percentile range in the national exam in 2001. For the different categories in the NCAE, there were 26 CVIF DLP students (out of 115) who got a percentile rank of 90-99 in science, 21 students in math, and 26 in reading comprehension.

These numbers are remarkable considering the economically disadvantaged background of most of the CVIF students. Moreover, the students are given lectures/discussions only 1/4 or even 1/5 of the allotted classroom time, and were not given homework in their four years of high school.

Based on available data, we note that in the NCAE 2007, the CVIF mean percentage score (mps) for general scholastic aptitude was 8.7 points above the GSA mps of schools in the area for the same year.

In the NCAE 2009, the GSA mps of CVIF was 23 points above the national mean, which has remained relatively stationary (with fluctuations? 5) for years.

Continuing to raise the bar, we have started to benchmark with international SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) score ranges. We have stepped into the lower bounds of SAT scores in math for admission in good American universities such as the University of California system. However, improvement is still needed in other areas.

A wealth of insights

After over 10 years of immersion in basic education, while continuing our work in physics research and mentoring, we can definitely say that the lack of human and material resources that we suffered from proved to be the key to discovering fundamental principles in the learning processes that young people undergo.

Indeed, poverty and scarcity have bestowed a wealth of insights that we continue to benefit from, even as we study with excitement the many new results coming in from research in the neurosciences.

With deeper understanding of how the brain really works, we are expecting a profound transformation of educational systems and institutions within the early part of the present century.

Full Implementation of Principal-led Approach in School Building Program is Necessary

By Gilbert M. Forbes


The country didn’t reach the target Gross Domestic Product increase as targeted for the recent quarter.  It only posted a 3.4% growth for the second quarter short of 5.9% compared to last year’s recorded annual growth rate.  Critics are partly blaming the government for its low spending though other contributing factors need to be considered.

The government however is quick to respond that it is better that way to make sure that precious government funding goes with the right place and the right time benefitting more rather than a privilege few.  In exercising care and caution in the use of public funds as pointed out in Inquirer’s editorial, the administration has not only ensured that the people get “more bang for the buck,” it has also trimmed the deficit, resulting successive rating upgrades by international credit agencies.  Putting it simply, the government is just doing its duty of ensuring that money wise, it is going at the right project, place, right people and time. 

The Learning Captain in return is reminded of the principal-led approach in school building construction tried out by DepEd. The principal-led approach not only ensure that projects went directly to school beneficiaries, it also gave the government and the people quality school buildings as compared to ordinarily contracted projects.  Most importantly, on the economic scale, the construction, since community-based generates local employment thus pump priming the economy right at the grass roots level.

It is a common knowledge that most of the time, contractors works are sub-standards be it roads, bridges, and school buildings.  Experiences tell us that during the previous regime, a Php100,000 budget school repair being done by contractors only worth Php35,000 once finished which undeniably will not be the case if the fund is channeled directly to the school and let the community as the primary stakeholder to work for it.

The efficient utilization of MOOE Funds released to schools even how meager it could be at times is a testament to it.  At present, we are witnessed how Php5,000 to Php10,000 MOOE directly released to our school leaders are making difference in our schools beauty, upkeep and most importantly, some basic operating expenses.  Although school heads could be experiencing difficulties in the liquidation process, still, they could not deny the fact that these releases are of great help to their schools no matter how small or big the amount is.

There could still be reports of missing funds or corruption due to the magnitude and level of resourcefulness and damaged moral values of some even if it already underwent strict liquidation and audit but there are already safeguards to prevent it from happening.  What the primary stakeholders at the school level should do is to know and do their respective roles being the third party particularly teachers and parents.

They should make sure that not a single peny is left unaccounted for, after all, it is no other than our children and the future generation who will benefit from their vigilance.

The field hopes that MOOE direct release to our schools will already be fully enforced and a system for a hassle and stress free liquidation process put in-placed so that it will not be traumatic to many.  Personnel who are affixing their signatures and reviewing the liquidation papers should be instructed or taught to be friendly, patient, and tactful.

Even when it is yet to be realized, the principal-led approach in school building and other facilities construction should now be fully implemented given the reported success of its pilot implementation and the positive experiences, MOOE direct release to schools had.  DepEd on its part should be fast to act on this matter because it will not only help solve school building shortages in the country but pump prime the economy as well at the very grass roots level.  It will surely benefit more and not just few greedy contractors and corrupt government officials in the higher echelon.

In this sense, the government will no longer worry of spending and whatever increase in the economic indicators is gained will be relevant to all, not just to the privilege few.

(Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes had his Bachelors Degree and MA in Educational Management (CAR) from the Philippine Normal University.  A campus paper adviser and trainer for 13 years.  Currently, he is a school principal in one of the central schools in the Division of Quezon.) 

Coddling squatters only encourages lawlessness

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo
The Philippine Star 2011-09-08
(This material could be a good reading for our students where they could be asked to write a reflection or reaction papers.  This could be a good supplement in our lessons in HEKASI and Social Studies and at the most Politics and Economics in tertiary.  For the ordinary readers, let us take note of how politicians benefit from the existence and building up of squatters colonies which have been gone already in the near by countries but so prevalent in our country.)

Last August 31st, two demolitions of squatter colonies in Quezon City — one in Old Balara and the other in North Triangle — were the staple of the TV evening newscasts. The sight has become all too familiar to us. The owner of the property, at times the government, finally wins a court order to evict the squatters, or now called informal settlers. Violence ensues as the squatters refuse to follow the court order.

The infamous punching by Mayor Sara Duterte of a Davao City sheriff had emanated from an eviction of squatters. Like many other local government officials, Duterte was out to gain points from her constituents by stopping the eviction order, even if only temporary. By protecting the squatters, these squatter colonies have become the political bases of some local government officials — their so-called command votes.

The squatter-local government executive relationship had become symbiotic. The lawbreaker finds refuge in the office of the person tasked to administer the rule of law in the local area. It’s a classic breakdown of the rule of law except that politicians here have opted to look the other way.

In the US, during times of calamities when the National Guard is deployed, looters can be shot on site and this is considered legal. They do this because they believe that the entire concept of the rule of law is pegged on respect for the other person’s property. When people lose their respect for the property of others, anarchy will set in.

John Davies, a 17th century Attorney General of Ireland, said: “The first and principal cause for making kings was to maintain property and contracts, and traffic and commerce among men.” A contemporary of Adam Smith (Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations and conceived the Laissez Faire Doctrine) named Jeremy Bentham had asserted that: “Property and law are born together, and die together. Before laws were made, there was no property.”

During the August 31st TV news reports on the two Quezon City demolitions, we heard the reasons that the evicted squatters had offered to justify their stiff resistance. One squatter argued that they’ve been on the property for more than a decade and thus earned the right to stay on. Another squatter said that they should not be evicted because they have not been provided a replacement site. Another said that the replacement site being offered did not provide them the means to earn a living.

These reasons for refusing to yield the illegally occupied land are simply revolting. Squatting on somebody’s land does not grant the squatter ownership or user’s rights after a period of time. Inability to evict a squatter because of the lack of an alternative domicile is tantamount to rewarding the act of breaking the law. 

Tolerate this way of thinking and other people will be influenced to similarly disregard the rule of law. Of even greater concern is that some local government officials allow this flagrant violation of the law. This is consistent with the rot in our system of governance where personal interests of the public official are held above the public interest.

Over the years, both the legislative and executive branches of government turned a blind eye to the squatting problem. With Congressmen and Senators afraid to lose votes if they created laws that made squatting more difficult and where violators paid a stiffer price, the only legislation we saw that was passed after martial law was the Lina Law — which even became the refuge of the squatters against evictions.

There is so much of this bovine ordure to revise the Constitution in order to allow foreigner investors to own land here. Foreigners who will want do business here are not as much concerned about owning land. They thrive in many other countries where they are not also allowed to own land. Foreign investors are more concerned with the pathetic state of the rule of law here.

Foreign investors are disturbed by our uneven and inconsistent application of the law. Foreign investors want to operate only in areas where they can quantify the risk factors. They’re frightened when they hear of our inability to protect property, especially when local government executives are coddling the law violators. They cannot accept a situation when an established norm of law is suddenly reversed by what they suspect to be a situation where judges or justices have been bribed.

The big multinational firms that we want to attract would normally abide by a strict code of ethics. They realize that to do otherwise would be to risk creating detrimental situations for the company. Expect them to seek the same adherence to the rule of law when they consider our country for investment. Expecting a level playing field, the padrino (godfather) system and our notoriety for inconsistent court case decisions are big disincentives to them.

A consistent supporter of Gawad Kalinga and the Focolare’s Bukas Palad, your Chair Wrecker would love to see every Filipino family finally own a house. However, the process for owning one must conform to the rule of law — otherwise we will merely promote anarchy and destroy the very communities we want to build.