Benefits of the K to 12 Program of the Department of Education

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd- Quezon
Region IV-A

Though quite a number of the populace are already amenable with the K to 12 Program of the Department of Education, still quite a larger chunk are not still convinced about its relevance even when it is already starting  this school year 2012-2013.  They still contend that it will be problematic.  It is not surprising however because of the popular media.

Education practitioners particularly school leaders believe otherwise.  Contrary to popular beliefs, the program intends to benefits families and individuals and most importantly the economy for the following reasons:

• Enhanced and Decongest the Curriculum.  This set up will give students more time to master competencies and time for extra-curricular activities, thus allowing for a more holistic development.  Teachers will also be able to ensure that every competencies are taught and mastered and all the necessary skills are transferred and developed.   Usually teachers are not able to teach all the content of the curriculum due to time constraint particularly the competencies of the fourth quarter which are all essential and prerequisites for the next level.  It is further complicated by calamities both natural and man made plus a lot of holidays and celebrations which are usually extended shortening the number that pupils and students should spent in school.  What is most surprising is the fact that, we are teaching a curriculum which requires at least 12 years to finish for 10 years only!
• Acquisition and possession of skills relevant to the job market.  At present, most of our graduates are either too young or lacking the necessary skills and competencies most of the companies requires.  Most believe that only college education is the best way to be gainfully employed.  However, even having college education is not enough and actually is not the job market needs thus many ends up factory workers, call center agents, service industry crews, repairman.  For both the struggling and middle income families, it is a great waste of time of money.  The K to 12 basic education curriculum will be sufficient to prepare students for work.  So most parents are freed from the burden of having to spend for college just to make their children employable.  It will also slowly erase the common weak thinking that college is only the best route for success and gainful employment.
• Higher opportunity for gainful employment or becoming an entrepreneur.  Currently, high school graduates are not only too young but are actually ill equipped for work so if their families can't afford to send them to at least two-year technical courses end up idle.  Hence they have nothing to do, they end up joining their peers or barkada and usually learn vices or worst end-up into serious trouble.  If they would have been in school, it would likely be no happening.  On the other hand, those who are able to finish at least two-year technical and vocational courses of commercially oriented institutions are hardly fit for work particularly those in Marine Transportation and IT because the industry commonly demands at least four years of education. With K to 12, students are given opportunity to acquire Certificates of Competency (COC’s) and National Certifications (NC’s) in accordance with TESDA training regulations thus allowing graduates to have a middle level skills which will offer them better opportunities to be gainfully employed.  There will be school-industry partnership for technological and vocational (techvoc) tracks to allow students gain work experience while studying and offer opportunity to be absorbed by the companies.
• Better prepared for college.  Due to enhanced curriculum that will provide relevant content and attuned with the changing needs of the times, basic education will ensure sufficient mastery of the core subjects to its graduates such that graduates may opt to pursue higher education if they choose to.  Those who don’t could immediately start earning for their livelihood thus contributing already to the improvement of their families and of the economy.
• College Graduates recognized anywhere in the world.  Our graduates, particularly engineers, doctors, architects, etc., could now be recognized as professionals  anywhere in the world.  Those who intend to study abroad will meet the entrance requirements of foreign schools.  Currently, except for the middle east, our professionals are not regarded as equal in countries in America and Europe.  The Washington Accord prescribes 12-year basic education as an entry to recognition of engineering professionals.  On the other hand, the Bologna Accord requires 12 years of education for university admission and practice of profession in European countries.
• Economic Growth.  The economy is expected to experience accelerated growth in the long run.  Several studies have shown that the improvements in the quality of education increases GDP growth by as much as 2%.  Studies in the UK, India and US show that additional years of schooling also have positive overall impact on society..  
• Sound foundation for long-term economic development.  A better educated society provides a sound foundation for long- term development for the new system will contribute to the development of emotionally and intellectually mature individuals capable of pursuing productive employment or entrepreneurship or higher education disciplines.

Other worries such as higher drop out rate are unnecessary and are irrelevant for the Department of Education has already set programs that will address this.  The department in partnership with other government agencies is working together so that the transition will be smooth for it could not afford to fail.

Not only that, the Department is only making sure that it is delivering quality education which every Filipino is entitled to.  This is in consistent with Article XIV, Section 2(1) of the 1987 constitution which states that “The state shall establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society.”

We Filipinos love changes.  It is evident in the way we embrace almost anything that is new.  Therefore, why not changes in education which after all is intended to make it relevant to the need of the times.

Of course, it would be difficult for some but it is only for the start.  Once we got adapted and used to, it will be just as natural and as easy as before.

We got to remember this,  “The illiterate of the new millennium is not the one who will not be able to read or write, but one who will not be able to learn, unlearn and relearn.”- 1998 Delor’s Education Report

(The writer has been working in the Department of Education as a public school teacher and school principal for sixteen and a half years.  Currently, he works as Elementary School Principal II of a central elementary school in the division of Quezon. He holds Bachelor Degree and MA in Educational Management (CAR) from the Philippine Normal University, Manila)

References:

Cue Cards Prepared by Gilbert M. Forbes as part of the Practicum on Basic Training Management and Oral Presentation Skills conducted by the National Educators Academy of the Philippines in partnership with DepEd Region IV-A (CALABARZON), April 21- 24, 2012.

Primer on the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program

K to 12 Basic Education Program Frequently Asked Questions as of November 25, 2011

Discussion Paper on the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program, October 25, 2010

You may also like reading:

Why K+12 is necessary? Information Dissemination Campaign, Key to Public Awareness and Acceptance of K+12 Program

K+12 to integrate best features of basic education

K to 12 will define our youth

The Economics of K to 12 

First Things First: A Commentary on K+12

Angel C. de Dios

Department of Chemistry

Georgetown University

Washington, DC 20057

a_c_de_dios@yahoo.com

“The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent Georgetown University.”

The basic education system of the Philippines faces two major problems: (1) high dropout rates in primary and secondary schools, and (2) lack of mastery of specific skills and content as reflected in poor performance in standard tests for both Grade IV and Grade VIII (2nd year high school) students. 

Graphics courtesy of http://www.specialeducationphilippines.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Philippine-K-to-2-Basic-Education-Curriculum

Unfortunately, the proposed K+12 curriculum does not directly address these problems. Both dropout rate and poor performance in standard exams indicate failure in the early years of education. That these problems are caused by a congested 10-year curriculum is not strongly supported by currently available data. The international standard tests take into account both years of education and basic skills. The standard tests ensure that students from all the participating countries had the same number of years of schooling.

The proposed K plus 12 curriculum have various components. It is useful to look at each component in deciding whether it helps address the pressing problems Philippine basic education presently faces:

(1) Kindergarten: This addresses the problems. Early childhood learning when done properly does provide a head start for elementary schools. Kindergarten prepares the child emotionally, physically and mentally for grade school.

(2) No formal subject of science in K to Grade II: This is a waste of a great opportunity. Science education in early childhood is cheap. It does not require elaborate laboratories or equipment.  Young children, in addition, are naturally inquisitive and the years of kinder to grade II are excellent for introduction of basic scientific curiosity and methods.  Only having science as a formal subject can ensure that science will indeed be covered.

(3) Use of mother tongue as medium of instruction: This is very expensive. It requires competent teachers who can teach math and science using the mother tongue. There is no objection that the mother tongue must be taught as a subject in elementary schools since this allows a smoother transition from home to school. The question of what medium should be used in instruction is separate. One medium of instruction can unite the nation. English is the best option since course materials especially from the internet are usually in English.  In this respect, Singapore is a good example to follow.

(4) Spiral curriculum: This type of teaching is highly applicable to elementary schools where both science and math are still treated as general approaches. In high school, both math and science diverge into separate disciplines. A spiral curriculum in high school will require teachers with knowledge in all these areas at a sufficient level. These required teachers are not going to be available in numbers so this program will be poorly implemented. A layered curriculum, on the other hand, is easier to implement - biology is taught in one year, chemistry in the next, physics is usually the last. In this manner, a high school can operate with a chemistry teacher, a physics teacher and a biology teacher, and each one need not be a master of all three disciplines.

(5) Discovery-based learning This type of learning requires longer hours and fails without sufficient guidance (see “An Analysis of the Failure of Electronic Media and Discovery Based Learning”, Clark, etal.(2009) http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/clark_etal_2009_analysis_of_the_failure_of_electronic_media.pdf).  

 The ideal is a mix between traditional and inquiry based methods. This is usually achieved in the sciences by having separate lecture and laboratory components. Guidance is provided during lectures and students work on their own or as a group in the laboratory.

(6) Last but not the least (in fact, this point is crucial), the proposed K plus 12 curriculum also involves short school hours. This seems to be an attempt to enable multiple shifts in the schools.  This goes against de-congesting the curriculum. It likewise does not make it worthwhile for schoolchildren especially those who have to travel far to attend school. This also opens opportunities for child labor as well as greater environmental (outside of school) influences on children education. Elementary schools in the US are full day so that students do have time to cover the material and, at the same time, it allows parents to work and be more productive. A full day in school means less television, less video games, less time on the streets, and less other activities that do not contribute to a sound education of the young.

Most countries have only ten years of compulsory education. Compulsory education in the US varies from state to state, but the average requires anyone who is under 16 years of age to be either enrolled in a school or home-schooled. This means that on average, the US only has 10-11 (including kindergarten) years of compulsory education. The last two years in the US K-12 education already include courses in tertiary education. These are called advanced placement (AP) or international baccalaureate (IB) courses. Examples are calculus (up to multivariable) and AP chemistry. Students who take AP chemistry usually have already finished one year of basic chemistry and one year of advanced chemistry, so in sum, a student could have taken three years of chemistry while in high school. Some schools in the US can not offer these, and consequently, there is great heterogeneity among US schools.

Addressing basic education is a matter of prioritization. Adding kindergarten and two years to high school is estimated to cost more than 100 billion pesos. On the other hand, to solve the two pressing problems, as UNESCO has advised, 6% of the GDP must be assigned to education. At the current funding (2.3% of GDP) of the Department of Education (DepEd), additional years will only lead to a greater demand for resources. Adding two years to high school essentially increases the needs of a high school by 50% - teachers, classrooms, desks, toilets, learning materials, etc. The DepEd can only answer less than half of what UNESCO deems is necessary for the 10-year basic education program. Adding two more years will stretch the budget of DepEd even further.

Implementing a new curriculum requires strong leadership at the school level. The success of a school depends a lot on the principal. A significant fraction of public schools in the Philippines currently do not have a principal or a head teacher. This clearly needs to be addressed first before any reform in curriculum is initiated. Otherwise, a new curriculum has no hope of being implemented successfully.

Instead of trying to attack the problem at the end of high school, efforts must be focused on the early years of education. This is where the dropout rate begins to escalate and these are the years where students are failing to learn as diagnosed by the standard test scores. Resources are very much needed in the first ten years of education and kindergarten and DepEd can do a better job on these years if DepEd does not have to worry about the added senior years in high school.

The government should allow its citizens to work out on their own a solution for the desired two years that aim to prepare students either for college or the workforce. College preparatory schools or community colleges can do this job and TESDA could address those who are leaning towards vocational training.

For any overwhelming policy that involves dramatic changes and budget requirements, it is important that the policy is based on good data and statistics. The Philippines, with its financial condition, cannot afford to waste. The ten-year basic education program can work as demonstrated by a Philippine school in Qatar (see “Do Filipino schools make the grade?” http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/130893-do-filipino-schools-make-the-grade.html) 

The Philippine school at Doha, Qatar participated in PISA 2009 and their scores were: Science (466), Math: (461) and Reading: (480). These scores place the Philippines near the average scores of participating countries.  The problems concerning basic education that developing countries face are enormous and complex.   A few years from now, the international donor community will look at how close governments they have funded to improve education have reached the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). It is highly likely that the Philippines will not meet the second item in the MDG, universal primary education where the Philippines agreed to  ensure that, by the same date (2015), children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling and that girls and boys will have equal access to all levels of education." (http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.pdf)

With regard to this goal, here are the indicators for the Philippines: Percentage of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5, both sexes (last updated: 09 Aug 2011): 2001 (75.3), 2002 (73.4), 2003 (72.2), 2004 (71.5), 2005 (70.4), 2006 (73.2), 2007 (75.3) (see http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/md /SeriesDetail.aspx?srid=591&crid=608)

Other data have been summarized, for example, in the following article in Business World http://www.bworldonline.com/Research/economicindicators.php?id=0498. It is understandable that the Philippine government is under tremendous pressure and it seems that a magic potion is required. However, what is lacking in most of the components proposed is a thoughtful and careful consideration of evidence and data. It is unfortunate that amidst the lack of sound evidence, although this paucity in data has been emphasized and repeated so many times in published reviews and articles, various components have been incorporated in the K+12 plan with "panacea" stamped on them. The following paragraphs highlight specific examples.

The mother tongue based multiple language education (MTBMLE) is one example. In 2009, the US Supreme Court issued an opinion (Horne vs. Flores) that Structured English Immersion (SEI) works better than bilingual education. It was a narrow decision (5 against 4) so it is not a clear judgment against MTBMLE, but it sure is a clear sign that MTBMLE is not "panacea". Recent news from the state of California also indicates that multilingual education is likewise not working well (see “English-Learning Students Far Behind Under English-Only Methods” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/25/english-learning-students_n_1030990.html).

The world experts in MTBMLE are careful in promoting MTBMLE. To make a strong case in favor of MTBMLE, data must show that high dropout rates are unquestionably due to using a second language as medium of instruction (Smits et al., 2008, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0017/001787/178702e.pdf ).

I strongly recommend taking a closer look at Table A.1 of this study by Smits et al. because this contains data pertinent to the Philippines. Specifically, the paper states: "The figures presented in columns 4 and 8 of the table give an indication of the part of the attendance differences that is due to differences in the background characteristics. For both age groups the reduction is 25 percent or more in 13 of the 22 countries. So in the majority of countries the background characteristics play a role of importance. This result provides support for hypothesis H1. Hypothesis H1 of this paper is “The differences in educational outcomes among linguistic groups are (partly) due to socioeconomic differences and/or differences in urbanization of the place of living among the groups.” The Philippines lists 45 and 48% in columns 4 and 8, respectively.

 In this light, the Philippines is among the three odd countries listed that show very strong correlation between school retention and socioeconomic factors, the others are Ghana and Peru. In Table B1, page 41of the paper, data from the Philippines clearly suggest that the various language groups in the country do not differ from each other in a significant manner in terms of dropout rates. Another aspect of the K+12 plan that has been promoted without scrutiny is the length of instructional hours. This is intimately related to multiple shifts in schools. This area, as experts have warned, is likewise characterized by scarce good data. There are large amounts of data that contain information regarding the length of instruction and learning outcomes, but these data involve so many additional factors.

Nonetheless. amidst these complicated cases, one thing is clear: "....the amount of time spent engaged in learning tasks is related to student performance....”(Abadzi, " Instructional Time Loss in Developing Countries: Concepts, Measurement, and Implications” World Bank Res Obs (2009) 24 (2): 267-290, http://wbro.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/2/267.full.pdf)   The issue of multiple shifts is important and could be a significant factor determining learning and one that definitely warrants a careful study.

I know that anecdotal instances are not of any help, but when I was in grade school, I have always wondered why the top six students from the graduating class always came from the morning shift. In high schools, it was worse, students were placed in sections according to their past year's performance, and the lower the section was, the later their shift was. In a school where three shifts were employed, the poorest of the learners took the late-afternoon-evening shift. Now, these are all anecdotal but these instances illustrate that these factors need to be studied carefully.

Would it satisfy the international donor community that the Philippines would embark on a heroic last minute effort? My answer is that this question is the wrong one to ask. The Philippine government must do what is good for its citizens.

For further discussion and information, you may also like reading the following:

Why K+12 is necessary? Information Dissemination Campaign, Key to Public Awareness and Acceptance of K+12 Program  

The Economics of K to 12 

K+12 to integrate best features of basic education  

Rationale of Mother Tongue-Based Multi-lingual Education 

Diversity Shock: Losing the Mother Tongue (First of 3 Parts)  

5 Things to Consider in Choosing and Deciding on What Career Path to Take for Graduating High School Students

 By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON

Reality speaks that only one in every college graduates actually land a job related to their course and discipline.  Majority don't and the most unlucky just join the bandwagon of the unemployed or 'tambays.'

There are actually lots of available jobs in the industry today which has remained unfilled due to existing mismatch with what the industry actually needs and our schools are producing.

Contrary to popular belief, there is MUCH money in Agriculture.

In this regard, I recalled what has transfired a couple of days ago while travelling on my way to work. I heard sitmates discussing on what course they intend their siblings to take after graduation.  One said that "I like her just take education, however, she doesnt like it that's why, may be just Hotel and Restaurant Management (gusto ko magteacher na lang sya, kaso ayaw, kaya Hotel and Restaurant Management na lang siguro). 

This could be prevented if we could learn to consider the following:

1.  The labor market trends and industry needs.  What is needed by the labor market today and two to five years from now?  The classified ads will give you a clue of what possibly is the best career will land you a job after graduation.  Dont just go with the craze or peer influence.  Remember, its about yourself and your future.

2.  Competence and passion.  Consider your competence, skills, abilities and what you like and love to do.  Your passion and interest and the areas you excel the most. The result of your NCAE (National Career Assessment Examination) will guide you what career suits you. It does mean that what you wanted may simply be unfit on what you can do and is passionate of doing. Much more what you think is the in-thing at present is absolutely not what the industry and the employers need and wanted two to five years from now. 

3.  Resources.  Apart from competence and skills is the availability of resources.  Does your family can afford the course you want to take?  If not, look for scholarships available.  There are lots of available scholarships that the government and the private sectors offer to deserving students. 

4.  Choose the right institution.  For those who will opt to enroll in college, choose credible institutions with record of quality academic standards and high board passing rates.  Don't be fooled by schools that produce Board topnotchers but have a low passing rate.  For those who opt to take courses with a much higher employability, consider TESDA or the Technical and Skills Development Authority.

5.  Consider and balance all your options. After considering your resources, you have to consider your options.  May be you could consider technical and agricultural courses.  The government agency TESDA offers lots of technical courses whose employability is very high.  Not only that you will only be trained for a short time.  There are also private and non-government run technical institutions where their students already earn while are studying!

It is a cutlural belief that being professional is the best route to success.  On the contrary it's not for there are varying route to success.  The professional world doesnt simply have the monopoly of it.  Success depends on the person. 

You may also like: 

Basic Guide in Choosing the Right Career for High School Graduating Students

The Dismal State of Graduate Education 

Kindergarten now a full part of the Basic Education System

google photo and www.eturo.org

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon

Finally, in a memorandum released last Feb. 9, DepEd MEMORANDUM No. 25, s. 2012, the department announces the binding institutionalization of kindergarten into the Basic Education System by virtue of the passing of the Kindergarten Act or the  Republic Act 10157, AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING THE KINDERGARTEN EDUCATION INTO THE BASIC EDUCATION SYSTEM AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, dated January 201, 2012.

The act aptly describes in Section 2. Declaration of Policy  that it is consonance with the Millennium Development Goals on achieving Education for All (EFA) by the year 2015.  It will apply to elementary school system being the first stage of compulsory and mandatory formal education. Thus, kindergarten will now be an integral part of the basic education system of the country.

Further, the new law recognizes the significance of kindergarten education to to the academic and technical development of the Filipino child for it is the period when the young mind's absorptive capacity for learning is at its sharpest.

With this law, the government through the department of education in partnership with other agency could now require all children age five be enrolled in kindergarten classes just like in grade one.

Being now compulsory and fully institutionalized part of the elementary learning years, enrollment increase shall be expected in the coming years.  And this should be anticipated by all schools so as not be an additional contributing factor to classroom shortage particularly in cities and highly urbanized areas experiencing high and alarming rates of migration.

Six years is good but eight years is better

By Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco

Philippine Daily Inquirer

One of 10 things that President Benigno Aquino promised to fix in the country’s basic education relates to the medium of instruction. While campaigning for the presidency in 2010, his exact words were:

“From pre-school to Grade 3, we will use the mother tongue as the medium of instruction while teaching English and Filipino as subjects.  From Grades 4-6(7), we will increasingly use English as the medium of instruction for science and math and Filipino for Araling Panlipunan (social studies). For high school, English should be the medium of instruction for science, math and English; Filipino for AP, Filipino and tech-voc education.”   (Emphasis supplied.)

The phrase “increasingly use English as medium of instruction for science and math and Filipino for Araling Panlipunan” can only be interpreted as the continued use of the learner’s first language (L1) as primary medium of instruction (MOI) throughout the elementary grades. It does not mean that English and Filipino will become the MOI starting Grade 4 as some have misinterpreted the phrase to mean.

The President’s intentions are clear. Before his term ends in 2016, he wants to institute an honest to goodness mother tongue-based multilingual education program (MTBMLE) to replace the outmoded bilingual program laid down by Marcos in the early 1970s. He also wants to improve on the Arroyo administration’s Department Order No. 74, issued in 2009, which already provides for the L1 as the learning medium up to at least Grade 3.

Language-in-education research worldwide has consistently shown that students learn better and faster when they are taught in their L1. The best results are achieved when the L1 is used for at least six to eight years as learning medium and the L2 is taught strongly to non-native learners before this becomes a MOI.  On the other hand, the worst results have been recorded whenever children begin education in an L2, or when they are exited early after two to three years of L1 education.

It is unfortunate that education authorities have refused to heed the research in designing the K-to-12 program. Under the new K-to-12 curriculum, an early-exit program, already discredited by international studies, has been put in place in which the L1 will be implemented as MOI only up to Grade 3, followed by an abrupt transition to the L2s in Grade 4.  This assumes that learners can both learn to listen, read, write, think and speak two new languages in a matter of three short years.

Cognitive development and language development are inextricably tied. We cannot think in a language that we don’t know. In developing deeper thinking skills, we must use a language that allows us to examine ideas and articulate our own thought processes. Those thinking skills will transfer to other languages once L2 fluency is developed enough to express thoughts and ideas.

But beginning education by assuming that learners can learn to think and speak well in two new languages at the same time is incongruous.   The right pedagogy is to let all Filipino learners develop critical thinking skills using the language they already think in and then teach L2s sufficiently before attempting to transition thinking in the L2s.

The K-to-12 program does not differ too much from the old bilingual education (BE) program.  However, it was not by any means based on the principles of BE as articulated by global educators. In other countries, BE includes the learners’ L1 and one other language (L2) and is premised on enabling deep learning through the L1 while developing strong skills in the L2. Learners can thus use both languages for thinking, creating, analyzing and evaluating.

Teaching an L2 should follow second language learning principles, whereby the teacher uses only an L2 that the learners already understand and build a little on that each day. The deliberateness that the teacher exercises in selecting the language of instruction directly redounds to the learners’ benefit, as they actually learn well each day’s target. Merely exposing learners to a lot of L2, based primarily on teacher talk is far less effective than carefully choosing daily targets which are quantifiable. Teachers who insist that their students only speak if they can do so with correct grammar only serve to effectively silence them, and thus stifle learning.

Valenzuela City Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo points out that the K-to-12 curriculum must recognize that oral language development is a prerequisite for both L1 and L2 literacy. Developing the listening and speaking skills of children should come first and is the basis for making every Filipino a reader in the L1 and in the L2. This is ultimately tied up with the number of years that the L1 is used in developing the cognitive and linguistic skills of the learner. Six years is the absolute minimum but eight years is better. Three years is the worst. (To be concluded next week)

Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco, PhD (rnolasco_upmin@yahoo.com) is an associate professor in linguistics at UP Diliman. He is the president of the 170+ Talaytayan MLE Inc., and is the adviser on first language education initiatives of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.

See also the following articles about K+12

• Why K+12 is Necessary? 
• K to 12 to integrate best features of basic education
• The Economics of K+12  
• K to 12 will define our youth 

K to 12 will define our youth

By:  Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco
Opinion, Philippine Daily Inquirer

Shifting Philippine basic education to a 12-year cycle highlighted the 10-point education reform agenda that candidate Benigno Aquino III presented to the electorate at the start of his successful presidential campaign. Here’s exactly what he said back then:

“We need to add two years to our basic education to catch up with the rest of the world.  Here, those who can afford it pay for up to 14 years of schooling for their children before university.  Thus, their children are getting into the best universities and the best jobs after graduation.  I want at least 12 years for our public school children, to give them an even chance at succeeding. My team has designed a way to go from our current 10 years (six elementary, four high school) to a preschool to grade 12 system in five years starting SY 2011-12. I will expand basic education in this country to a globally comparable 12 years before the end of the next administration (2016).”

The full migration to a K to 12 cycle is by no means abrupt. It has four distinct implementation phases. Last year, Phase I began when the DepEd announced that kindergarten will become free and compulsory for 5-year-olds. Also last year, with the help of education experts—Dr. Dina Ocampo, Metrobank Teacher of the Year, and Dr. Merle Tan of the National Institute for Science and Math Education (UP Nismed), to name just two—the DepEd began developing a new 12-year basic education curriculum.

No other than Secretary Armin Luistro signaled the start of Phase II by announcing that by school year 2012-2013, all public schools will begin using the new K to 12 curriculum, but only for Grade One and first year high school. Concurrently, the DepEd will aggressively seek the enactment of a new Basic Education Law specifically mandating the K to 12 cycle.  Most likely, this new law will supersede the outmoded provisions of the Education Act of 1982 (BP 232 and 400) and maybe add a little more muscle to RA 9155 or the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001.

If everything goes according to plan, by the time President Aquino’s term ends in 2016, the entire K to 12 cycle should be in place and all public schools would already have a senior high school component (Grade 11 and 12 or 5th and 6th year high school, depending on how one wishes to view it). Note however that this is just Phase III.

The fourth and final phase occurs in school year 2023-2024, when we will finally have graduates who have gone through the entire K to 12 cycle, from kindergarten up to senior high school.

Unfortunately, the public’s attention is once again transfixed by the dramatic appeal of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona this coming January. This might explain why both traditional and new media reports on the continuing migration to K to 12 have been rather superficial. So far, we have  just been treated to soundbites of parents objecting to the added cost of the extra two years and the lament of some universities that their enrollment might drop because going to university or college will become just one option for the K to 12 graduate.


I submit that the social, political and economic impact of the migration to K to 12 is much more far-reaching than that of the upcoming Senate trial of the Chief Justice’s alleged judicial improprieties. After all, once the senators cast their votes, all will be said and done and the only thing anyone can do is live with the consequences.

On the other hand, the new K to 12 curriculum will define the character, purpose and vision of our youth, as individuals and as part of a collective whole. As such, we need to know precisely what our students are supposed to be learning  at what stage during the 12-year cycle. As parents and education stakeholders, we need to be assured that the minds and hearts of our children will be in the good, capable and caring hands of our schools. In short, we need to know exactly what this new curriculum really is.

In this regard, I sought the help of Dr. Ricky Nolasco, a true education reform advocate. Nolasco points out that President Aquino correctly identified Reading as a core K to 12 competency, when he said that “every child passing pre-school must be a reader by Grade One. We must build a library infrastructure in our schools, procure reading books from our Philippine publishing industry to support local authors, and train elementary teachers on how to teach reading. ”

Nolasco says this can only be accomplished by using the first language as a separate subject and as medium of instruction. However, he maintains that it takes time for teachers to imbibe a totally new approach to education, and that can only happen as they examine their old perceptions of education and educational processes.

Butch Hernandez (butchhernandez@gmail.com) is the executive director of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.

For further reading, also see the following previously posted articles:

• The Economics of K+12 
• Why K+12 is Necessary? 
• K to 12 to Integrate Best Features of Basic Education

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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CNN's feature report on Indonesia's Green School, a challenge to all, an inspiration to green and reform minded educators

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon

Since the Department of Education emphasized and encouraged localization of curriculum particularly in Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan, it has been my dream of seeing our pupils and students, particularly in rural areas doing and adopting lessons that will enhance their agricultural know-how that could be transmitted to their parents and later increase productivity and improve living standards in communities where they belong.  I used to call it balance or holistic education with emphasis on the total development of an individual as a person who would be ready for the rudiments and challenges of life.

But, it remains a dream, for we are still grappling how could this be made a possibility due to so many considerations.  There is this Gulayan sa Paaralan but even its effective implementation is a challenge.  Those who have it implemented successfully are presumed to have set aside tremendous time for academic hence our pupils, grade four to six pupils doesn't even know how to use bolo, scythe, pick mattock and other basic farm tools even those in the rural farming communities.  This is due to the negative attitude of the parents themselves towards farming.  They usually don't like their children follow in their footsteps which prove to be detrimental on the future of their siblings once they get into the field of productive work and source of livelihood.  This situation too is a contributing factor in the worsening labor mismatch.

Others have just reactivated their focus on Gulayan due to the prices earmarked the local governments as they tried to encourage schools optimum participation, possibly to help change public attitude towards farming-- in a short while.  Prices made available are no big deal for it could reach millions for those which could be lucky.

However, the big question is without these rewards and interventions from the LGU and leaving only the central office mandate with regards to it, where would have been?

This boils down to what we really want our children become which teachers and school administrators should  fully understand.  Do we intend to develop a productive citizen who is ready for life or an academic fellow who will soon be an add themsleves the looming non-productive members of the society for they are not ready for work particularly decent manual labor-- such as farming or agriculture

The feature recently broadcasted by CNN and reported on its web site is an inspiration and a wake up call that there is nothing wrong with farming particularly traditional, organic sustainable farming methods.  This article too entitled Green School sustains pupil's interest is an inspiration to all green advocates and is just in time that DepEd has called for all schools to strengthen environment education through the recently released order No. 52, s. 2011.


Certainly, former DepEd Secretary Lesli Lapus is but right when he said, there is no need for us to reinvent the wheel, all we need to do is to keep it rolling.

New SBM Grant Guidelines, Targets Poor and Highly Depressed Schools

DepEd Order No. 55, s. 2011- Gudelines on School Based Management (SBM) Grants has leveled and socialized the opportunities and the playing field among schools badly needing financial support.

Before, grants were given on the basis of being a non-performing school regardless of the place and extent of support available from stakeholders particularly among rich and well-funded schools located in rich cities and municipalities.

Under the new guidelines, prioritization, allocation, and selection of recipient schools shall be guided by, first, convergence to address poverty and capacity of local government units to support schools.  The first one refers to divisions with highest number of schools situated in 4th, 5th, and 6th class municipalities and 4P's areas are given priority.  The second one gives priority to schools under 4th, 5th, and 6th class municipalities whose LGU's have lesser financial capability to support education initiatives.

Prioritization, selection and allocation of division depends on two sets of priorities under GAA.  Priority I which involves 32 of 40 identified high priority divisions and Priority II which is constituted by the remaining  157 division.

The two priorities were identified based on division performance computed using the average of participation, achievement (NAT), completion, and drop out rates for SY 2006-2007, SY 2007-2008 and SY 2008-2009.

All schools under priority I divisions. within the 4th, 5th, and 6th class municipalities as well as 4P's schools shall be given SBM Grants while schools with the highest drop out rates within priority II divisions belonging to 4th, 5th, and 6th municipalities shall be the priority.

See more of the guidelines by clicking the link above or on the link at the right of this blog under legislation and control.

Major Challenges to the Attainment of EFA and MDG Goals: Politicians Bias Treatment to Education

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes

Four years to go and its 2015, the deadline set in the attainment of Education For All (EFA) Goals.  Still, DepEd is a long way to go and achieving the said target remains a big challenge without the support of various sectors particularly local government units.

While support in terms of material inputs are on the rise, capital investment to increase participation rates is incomparable compared to that being received by college students.  There are clear existing scholarships programs for college students being sponsored by local government executives and politicians but no concrete scholarships programs are in place for the basic education sector particularly for the highly marginalized and highly at-risked children.

There are so called voucher scholarship programs which subsidized tuitions fees of the college students which range from Php3,000 to Php7,000 and even more a year plus other scholarship programs being sponsored by different tertiary institutions, DOST, corporate organizations, foundations, NGO’s, private and philanthropic individuals but this is hardly felt in the basic education sector where support is much needed.  There is GASTPE or Government Ass…….istance to Private Education but it is part of DepEd or national government’s program.

It is a fact that individuals who have not finished primary schooling or elementary grades are prone to exploitation and could not function well with the demands of the society as compared to those lucky enough to graduate high school.  Thus, a low participation and drop-out rates in the basic education sector are un-healthier than the low participation rate in college and in the long run disadvantageous and liability on the part of the government.

Higher education is receiving an average of Php22,000 subsidy per students while basic education receives only around Php8,000.  These tertiary institutions particularly SCU’s are commonly in competition not only with private schools but with fellow SCU’s and are offering irrelevant courses inconsistent with the needs of the job market and of the place where these are located.  Thus, investments made by LGU’s for college students scholarships are a total gamble.  Very low return or none at all could be expected except a sure patronage votes every three years.

Looking at the concept of basic economics and the logic of which is more important, one will see the unfair treatment and bias from our political leaders when it comes to support being given to Basic Education who needs it the most given the already very meager resources it has through the years. 

If our political leaders really want to eradicate poverty as a main objective of the Millennium Development Goals, a holistic approach to education is needed and not the shallow approach towards it which is obviously populist and self-serving.

NOTE:  See also Meeting the Challenges of EFA 2015 and Usapin ng 'Access,' Dapat Maging Pokus ng mga Pulitiko sa Kani-kanilang Programang Pang-edukasyon

(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.) 

Transformational Teachers: The Key Players in Making Education Reforms Transform

(Material below is based on the article originally entitled,  A Chance to Make History by Queena N. Lee-Chua originally appeared at the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 7:26pm, Sunday April 24, 2011)

Why reforms in education don't transform as earlier emphasized in this blog could not only be blamed to the educational planners and implementers at the national level but more importantly at the grassroots or school level.  Not only the wait and see attitude, varying interpretations to national policies, cascading effects of information once relayed and institutional cultures but most importantly, behaviors and attitudes of teachers and school heads.

Images courtesy of google search.

Having a Transformational Teachers and School Heads is a different matter.  It surpasses resources gaps and could deliberately make great things possible in the field of education. This is a total change of attitude, a total change of heart which is a victory from being self-centered and selfish to selflessness.

Drawing from hands-on experience rather than ivory-tower theory, Wendy Kopp, a best seller book author in the US who was trained in business rather than education, boldly yet reflectively cuts through policy and debates to detail what it really takes to achieve what she calls “transformational” education.

Wendy Kopp, a 1989 graduate of Princeton University, created a teaching corps of America’s best and brightest new graduates to teach for two years in the country’s most disadvantaged schools.

Her journey is chronicled in her first book “One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach for America (TFA) and What I Learned along the Way.”

Transformational teachers

After describing how TFA teachers succeed against huge odds, Kopp says, “Success is possible in classrooms in low-income communities if we redefine the role of the teacher to mean more than providing access to learning experiences.  [Successful] teachers set out to inspire their students to assume responsibility for meeting ambitious academic goals, and they commit to doing whatever it takes to ensure their students succeed—providing the academic rigor and the extra support necessary to meet their extra needs.

“Teachers who redefine their roles don’t need to wait to solve poverty before their students can fulfill their potential. They can partner with children and their families to provide an education that changes their likely path and enables them to ‘make history.’”

Successful teachers need the same skills of successful leaders in any other field.  They need to track goals, maximize efforts, change course if necessary. They need great energy, discipline and hard work.

Other significant characteristics are: “past demonstrated achievement, perseverance, the ability to influence and motivate others, critical thinking skills, organizational ability.”

Transformational schools

Successful schools have a precise vision, and work hard towards it. “[Transformational] schools aspire not to equality of inputs but rather to equality of outputs,” says Kopp. “They are aspiring not to ensure their students have access to the same books, or dollars, or hours, but rather, that they achieve the same levels of performance and learning and the same life opportunities. That means doing whatever it takes to level the playing field for their students.”

Kimmel says, “Everything starts with teacher quality. There are many factors at play, but I’m dead in the water if I don’t have great teachers. It all comes down to the two-sided coin of teacher recruitment and retention.”

The best administrators do not lord it over teachers. Chris Barbic of Yes Prep campus in Houston, Texas, which has one of the best college performance rates in the state, says he “spends most of my time thinking about how to find, and do we have, and how do we keep, and are we developing, the right people in our schools.” Good principals “search for, cajole, beg and win over teachers to join them to achieve their vision of success for their students.”  They also ensure that their best teachers stay.

“Teachers stay when they are surrounded by colleagues and a culture that value their contributions,” says Kopp. Effective administrators provide ways for teachers to have broader impact, such as becoming “master teachers who coach and guide colleagues.”

Teachers stay when they feel they can grow as instructors and as leaders, thus professional development is essential. “The first step is finding great people,” says Kimmel, “the next step is supporting them to go from good to great or from great to greater.”

The retention rate at Wheels is 90 percent, “almost unheard of in many schools in low-income communities” and, I am certain, even in schools for the privileged.

Great schools insist on a culture of excellence.  TFA alumnus Reid Whitaker, who now heads Port Houston Elementary, cites the awards his good teachers have earned, and explains why ineffective teachers left.

“If you create a culture of positive goodwill that is built on team responsibility and centered on really high expectations for students, people who are not team players leave.  I have worked hard to create a culture that attracts the right people and repels the people who should go. I’ve only fired one teacher, but a number of teachers have left because they knew they weren’t giving their all and didn’t want to be in the spotlight here. In our school, anyone who is not giving 100 percent, who is not working as a team member, who is not working so hard for their students, they stand out like a sore thumb, and that’s uncomfortable.”


Transformational systems

When TFA alumna Michelle Rhee arrived in the District of Columbia in 2008, she found “five million unfiled personnel records stacked up in storerooms” with “some teachers not being paid on time while others who had left were still receiving paychecks.”

Thousands of work orders for school maintenance were not done, and around half of the city’s schools “had not received textbooks by the start of the school year, or had received the wrong ones.” Sound familiar?

Rhee had to fix the system fast. Personnel files were updated, e-mail systems streamlined, financial records digitized, resources reallocated.  In her most controversial decision on her first year, Rhee closed down 23 schools to free up resources so that “every school could [finally] have an art teacher, a PE teacher and a nurse.” Rhee made a lot of enemies, and since the Democratic Party mayor lost the recent midterm elections, she had to resign. The good news—Kaya Henderson, her successor, is also a TFA alumna and also demands excellence.

Transformational leadership requires guts and resolve, honesty and accountability. In Kopp’s book, the chapter  on “Scaling Success” should be required reading for every public official and employee involved in education.

“A Chance to Make History” by Wendy Kopp (2011, Public Affairs) is available in National Book Store.

Beginnings of Corruption: Basis for Preventive Measures in the Future

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd QUEZON, CALABARZON

Through the years, corruption has been one single factor why our country has stagnated. But many don’t know that corruption has its roots other than politics and government. but understanding its beginning would somehow serve as basis for preventive measures in the future through massive advocacies intended to battle it including its negative effects.  Here are some of them.

The Family

Unconsciously, corruption starts at home. Whenever parents or guardians give or promise a return in every services child does, it creates a bad signal. Every time we tolerate them in not returning changes or bribe them in doing errands, slowly, corruption is tolerated. The same thing when parents promised a reward if the child will do something the right way, if he wins in a sports or academic competitions, or if become the top or first in class.

As a person moves out of the comforts of home, all the values he processed and learned from it, he carries with him. So, strong moral foundation at home supplanted by strong character education in schools and churches is significant so that actual events happening in the community may not weaken individual’s desire to be righteous. But as family values deteriorate corruption is evolving.  This is very evident in the overwhelming importance we tend to give to families over the interest of the many.  Selfish desires are coated by the way we value one's family.

The School

Teachers and non-teaching personnel in school may not be aware but they too contribute to the destructive culture of corruption. Many times, the habit formed at home or the parenting attitudes as parents themselves are brought and practice at school. Other behavioral patterns both conscious and unconscious may also be a contributing factor like always coming late to class and going home or dismissing classes early, utilizing instructional time un-productively, tit-for-a-tat during class hours, and others that primary pupils could be unaware of but intermediate pupils, secondary students, their siblings and guardians are aware of already.

Aside from this is the negative onslaught and extreme of hospitality school teaching and non-teaching personnel usually do during visitation of higher officials which tend to be extravagant. These officials are bequeathed with tokens too as part of seem to be an established culture in every towns and communities. Failing to practice it is considered shameful even when there is very limited financial resource and there is other more immediate and pressing need. 


The Peoples Attitude Towards Establish Values and Popular Culture

Through the years, the common people have established a popular culture, even values and traditions which have become a fertile ground for corruption. These include our version of pakikisama or friendliness which is not open to rejection even in the midst of unrighteousness. Utang na loob or gratitude to favors received, fixing, giving of grease money, political patronage, apathy, and materialism and consumerism.

Because many lack patience and diligence, many patronize fixers and bribery just to fast track transaction in government or get fast approval and release of important documents like licenses, contract, projects to the detriment of the public.Bribery is very rampant among traffic violators, gambling lords, tax payers, illegal business owners, etc.

Political patronage on the other hand has become the way of life to the masses that are unaware to their misfortune from these misfits leaders whose best interest are for themselves and their families. Whoever could satisfy their basic and simplest needs, these voters consider their hero.

First world materialism and consumerism in a developing or developing country like ours have exacerbated the situation. If before, the main reason is survival why some get involve in evil things, now material wants have become the reason why many have become corrupt. Almost everybody now needs a cell phone and of course money to load it and be able to text. It is just crazy to think that ours is the texting capital of the world overtaking more progressive and economically affluent countries than ours.

The Filipino values being “successful”, i.e. having a lot of money and also prestige, as very important. This was explained by Jerome Nadal in his article entitled The Reasons Why Corruption Persists in RP.. For example, every Filipino that leaves his place of birth is expected to come home successful and moneyed. Thus, even if their existence abroad is hand-to-mouth, Filipinos, when they go home, pretend and act as if they are successful and have lots of money. The pursuit of success, money and prestige is a goal that is expected of everyone. Despite the social pressure to be “successful”, the vast majority of the Filipinos realize soon enough that the “opportunities” that will make the goal of success possible is narrow or that he or she has little access to it, whether it be by reason of status, education, training, beliefs or simply geographical location. Given the pressure to be successful and moneyed in the face of severely limited opportunities, the Filipino rejects the “rules of the game” and attempts to achieve his goals of becoming successful and moneyed through illicit or corrupt means. The social expectation to be successful and moneyed pushes the Filipino to corruption.

The second has to do with the overwhelming importance we give to the “family”. Corruption is an expression of particularism – “the felt obligation to help, to give resources to persons whom one has a personal obligation, to the family above all but also to friends and membership groups” (remember the fraternities?) This overwhelming importance given to the family creates a society that is “deficient in communitarian values.” There is little loyalty to the larger community or acceptance of behavioral norms that require the support of others. "This is the soil of corruption as group or family interests are upheld over and above universalism and meriT," he concluded.

Political Survival

Many has also exploited election season to milk politicians even the new ones. For a typical and ordinary income earner even middle class and average businessmen, to get involve in politics, so as to serve their country men better is an economic suicide. Again indeed, it is a great loss to the public for them to have a better alternative and opportunity to have a better public leader and government for who will be in their minds will stumble to gamble their livelihood in this kind of battle even in a fifty-fifty chances.  For the politicians who want to stay in power, even the good ones have to embrace some sort of corruption to save enough funds to be given away once election campaign starts. There is a belief among the common folks that has become popular which state that "mangungurakot din naman ang mga iyan kaya samantalahin na natin ang panghihingi."  During election campaign season, it is no longer surprising that lots people, even organization are soliciting.  From Basketball uniforms to even parties here and there.  Wines are flooding.  now, who is to blame for a corrupt government and society like ours?

Corruption involving the AFP is not limited to them alone. It is but common in all agencies of government where pabaon to retiring officials is but a common practice. The only difference is the amount and the sources of pabaon.

Until when our people will learn their lesson is also worth dying for. Indeed, a contradiction for a society whose majority called themselves Christians and the minority Muslims who all believe and profess the existence of God.