FACT OR FICTION: 'Without EDSA I, We Could Have Been Like Singapore-'Bong-Bong Marcos

Exerpts from Ramon J. Parolan's original article at opinion.inquirer.net with "Lee Kuan Yew on Philippines" as original title

What has the late former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has to say about this?  Is the son of the former dictator Sen. Bongbong Marcos, telling the truth?

Here is what the prime minister statements about Marcos from his autobiography “From Third World to First” discrediting Bongbong’s assertions.

Courtesy:  Google Images

“ It was not until January 1974 that I visited President Marcos in Manila… Marcos received me in great style... I was put up at the guest wing of Malacañang Palace in lavishly furnished rooms, valuable objects of art bought in Europe strewn all over. Our hosts were gracious, extravagant in hospitality, flamboyant.

In Bali in 1976, at the first ASEAN summit held after the fall of Saigon, I found Marcos keen to push for greater economic cooperation in ASEAN. To set the pace, Marcos and I agreed to implement a *****eral Philippines-Singapore… to promote intra-ASEAN trade…I was to discover that for him, the communiqué was the accomplishment itself; its implementation was secondary, an extra to be discussed at another conference.

He once took me on a tour of his library at Malacañang, its shelves filled with bound volumes of newspapers reporting his activities over the years since he first stood for elections. There were encyclopedia-size volumes on the history and culture of the Philippines with his name as the author. His campaign medals as an anti-Japanese guerrilla leader were displayed in glass cupboards. He was the undisputed boss of all Filipinos. Imelda had a penchant for luxury and opulence. When they visited Singapore…they came in style in two DC8’s, his and hers.

Marcos, ruling under martial law, had detained opposition leader Benigno (Ninoy) Aquino, reputed to be as charismatic and powerful a campaigner as he was. He freed Aquino and allowed him to go to the USA. As the economic situation in the Philippines deteriorated, Aquino announced his decision to return. Mrs. Marcos issued several veiled warnings. When the plane arrived at Manila Airport from Taipei in August 1983, he was shot as he descended from the aircraft...

International outrage over the killing resulted in foreign banks stopping all loans to the Philippines, which owed over US$25 billion and could not pay the interest due. This brought Marcos to the crunch. He sent his minister for trade and industry, Bobby Ongpin, to ask me for a loan of US$300-500 million to meet the interest payments. I looked him straight in the eye and said, “We will never see that money back.” Moreover, I added, everyone knew that Marcos was seriously ill and under constant medication for a wasting disease. What was needed was a strong, healthy leader, not more loans.

… In February 1984, Marcos met me in Brunei at the sultanate’s independence celebrations. He had undergone a dramatic physical change. Although less puffy than he had appeared on television, his complexion was dark as if he had been out in the sun. He was breathing hard as he spoke, his voice was soft, eyes bleary, and hair thinning… An ambulance with all the necessary equipment and a team of Filipino doctors were on standby outside his guest bungalow. Marcos spent much of the time giving me a most improbable story of how Aquino had been shot.

With medical care, Marcos dragged on. Cesar Virata met me in Singapore in January the following year… He said that Mrs. Imelda Marcos was likely to be nominated as the presidential candidate. I asked how that could be when there were other weighty candidates. Virata replied it had to do with “flow of money; she would have more money than other candidates to pay for the votes needed for nomination by the party and to win the election. He added that if she were the candidate, the opposition would put up Mrs. Cory Aquino...

The denouement came when Marcos held presidential elections which he claimed he won. Cory Aquino disputed this and launched a civil disobedience campaign...A massive show of “people power” led to a spectacular overthrow of a dictatorship. The final indignity was on 25 February 1986, when Marcos and his wife fled in USAF helicopters from Malacañang Palace and were flown to Hawaii.

…There was no reason why the Philippines should not have been one of the more successful of the ASEAN countries. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was the most developed, because America had been generous in rehabilitating the country after the war. Something was missing, a gel to hold society together. The people at the top, the elite mestizos, had the same detached attitude to the native peasants as the mestizos in their haciendas in Latin America had toward their peons. They were two different societies: Those at the top lived a life of extreme luxury and comfort while the peasants scraped a living, and in the Philippines it was a hard living… They had many children because the church discouraged birth control. The result was increasing poverty.

“The Philippines had a rambunctious press but it did not check corruption. Individual pressmen could be bought, as could many judges.  Something had gone seriously wrong. Millions of Filipino men and women had to leave their country for jobs abroad beneath their level of education. Filipino professionals… are as good as our own. Indeed, their architects, artists, and musicians are more artistic and creative than ours…

“The difference lies in the culture of the Filipino people. It is a soft, forgiving culture. Only in the Philippines could a leader like Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged his country for over twenty years, still be considered for a national burial. Insignificant amounts of the loot have been recovered, yet his wife and children were allowed to return and engage in politics. They supported the winning presidential and congressional candidates with their considerable resources and reappeared in the political and social limelight after the 1998 election that returned President Joseph Estrada.”

“Some Filipinos write and speak with passion. If they could get their elite to share their sentiments and act, what could they not have achieved?”

Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/12827/lee-kuan-yew-on-philippines#ixzz3quoKnGI6
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Successful College or Even High School Dropouts as Commencement Speakers: When and Why Not?

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON

Yearly, we do witness different graduation and commencement exercises but none so far could one remember that he listens to successful vocational, blue collar individuals as commencement speakers.  Much less from those street-smart people who are all successful in their own rights.

For sometime, over the years, we have heard of Bill Gates, as a commencement speaker at Harvard and we were surprise to learn that he is a college undergraduate.  He only reached third year college.

Most, of us would say, he could be an exemption because of his contribution that revolutionizes information technology and the world wide web super high way today.   But what about should we say simple

Edgar "Injap" Sia II, Mang Inasal Founder is a college dropout.
He is 36 and is now worth around $90 Million. 

people who created an impact in our respective communities?

Let say a common dirty successful, popular and in-demand mechanic, entrepreneurs in our respective communities? A simple farmer who because of diligence, thrift and industry created a great stride that led him to success.  Or a dry goods high school drop out helper who later on become an owner of her own dry goods, ready to wear clothing store.  Are we creating a wrong notion that the only way to success is a complete formal education?  A college degree for all?

The resounding fact is, its not!  However, what we educators, parents, and the public are unknowingly or unsuspectingly doing is that, we create a wrong notion that the only best way to success is through formal education and a college diploma.  The truth however is, its not.  There are lots of opportunities and path ways to learn and be successful.

By inviting and having successful college or even high school dropouts as graduation or commencement speakers does not undervalue formal education.  Instead, it would but encourage everybody that there are just simply limitless ways and possibilities to learn and be successful.  A college diploma is only one of those.

College education is not the only way.  What we need is to find our niche as early as possible.  Now, fellow educators, teachers, parents, policy makers out there, how are we preparing our children and youth to find their niche as early as possible.  What kind of impression is created and implanted during these momentous occasions?

Graduation exercises, even recognition programs should be taken as a wonderful opportunity in establishing and creating a more hopeful batch of elementary and high school graduates.   At the end becoming socially relevant for it may contribute to decrease job mismatch and unemployment percentage and so economic progress.

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(Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes is an educator who was also a victim of financial ignorance.  Upon stumbling on a financial literacy book a decade ago, financial literacy or wellness has become a part of his personal advocacy aside from politics, good governance, education and environment.  He holds baccalaureate and post-graduate studies from the Philippine Normal University and have been a school head for more than ten years now.)

Respectable Public Servants Deserve Public Support

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON\

I want to borrow and share the sentiments of Jude Ocampo via Jess Lorenzo who mentioned in his fb post that he feels sorry for our honest public servants. The public demands that they be visible - which is perfectly understandable since seeing competent men and women directing govt efforts does provide some comfort. But when people like Sec. MAR risk life and limb to lead crisis management efforts on the ground, they are rewarded by cynicism and ridicule. Kung hindi ka magnanakaw sa gobiyerno, dapat yata santo or masochist ka. Can't we just see this for what it is - an honest public servant doing his job?

In government service, seldom that honest public servants got noticed, recognized, and even rewarded by the public and most importantly by peers. If you profess and practice righteousness in the work place either some would despise you, reject you and like Sec. Mar, ridicule you behind your backs. Your contemporaries may even consider you as a threat. May be that is because, the crab mentality is so grossly embedded in our psychic- bad for a nation dreaming to be progressive and great.

Most of the time, if you think out of the box, radical in your approach meaning highly analytical weighing things and putting it in a balance, and most of all disciplinarian or strict, you could be unpopular, or less liked.  Rest assured that nobody will recognize your efforts, they may do so once you have left, worst, none at all. You could be excused  unless you possess an above average, not ordinary, or even extraordinary appeal and aura, but still do expect negativity for there is a saying, you couldn't please everybody.

This is the very reason that most of our best people as much as possible avoid government service. They rather work and serve in an NGO than in government or worst, in the corporate world and just help in other ways. The bad side about it is that the unknowing public, 'the masses' are left with no other alternative. Then we will be annoyed by mediocre government services!

If we, the public, want a good and ultimately the best public service that we want from the government, we should ask ourselves first, what kind of citizen am I?  In my own little ways, aside from being both direct and indirect tax payers, what, contributions do I make towards the society?  If I would be given the opportunity to serve in the government, can I do the kind of public service I want from them?

People in government, particularly the righteous and respected ones, deserve our support and not the other way around so as encourage them to continue and not be eaten up by the bad system.  Our failure, is our great loss for there are already too few of them in government now.  Their tribe should increase, and its we who are in the best position to make it a reality.  After, all, in a larger picture, WE THE PEOPLE, IS THE GOVERNMENT.

(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.)

Isolated and Far-flung Public Schools Should Now Go to Solar Energy

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon , IV-A CALABARZON 

Electrical power for isolated and far-flung schools (off-grid or far from power lines) now a days is already within reach through the use of solar energy.  Not only that DepEd has established partnerships with different NGO providers, but also, solar power energy hard wares' prices through the years have decreased tremendously.  

Cabul-an National High School.  A beneificiary of One Meralco Foundation.

If the school leadership wants it fast, aside from contacting or soliciting the help of possible NGO donors, what is just needed is the drive to motivate the stakeholders or the community to hold a fund drive and combine financial resources.  With this, no more queuing, no more waiting. For as low as Php25,000.00, any off-grid schools with the Parent Teacher Association on the lead could install solar power in their respective schools.  

This set-up is enough to power an LCD or LED TV, a laptop pc and an electric fan. In other words, enough to operate multi-media equipment and basic office equipment, and so the multi-media for classroom use of course.  Since, electrical power is one of the requirements of DepEd's Computerization Program; this type of electrical connection package is a good start so as to fast track the receiving of the said package.  It is also best to start small so that along the way, somebody will learn basic issues regarding its operation, performance, and maintenance.

 

Basic components of this set-up usually include a 1000-watts sine-wave inverter.  12- Volt deep cycle battery, at least 100Ah, 100-200watts monocrystaline solar panels, solar charge controller, wirings and other connecting paraphernalia.

The only major challenge in operating renewable energy system such as this is maintenance.  But all these are easy to learn as long as willingness is strong.  Electronics technicians’ even electricians could also be asked to assist and should be made to witness the installation process so that somebody in the community knows what to do, much less, the teachers.  In this manner, orientation from the installer must be part of the package.

Aside from the maintenance, the following should also be the main considerations:  First, estimated daily power usage by computing the power requirements of the gadgets and hard wares your school intend to use initially; second, budget or source of funds; third, target supplier and installer’s record; fourth, maintenance requirement; and fifth, learning the basics.   Read more at this link 5 Things to Consider When Planning to Install Solar Energy Systems

Benefits of Solar Power

Benefits of Solar power particularly in off-grid areas are simply amazing.  It would not only enable the school to use multi-media in instruction as they could already power their devices, but as long as there is a cellphone network signal, using their laptops and mobile modems could also connect itself to the internet making learning more interesting. 

They could also provide ICT instruction not only to the pupils and students but even to the community. The clean, free and renewable electricity available in the school cab become an added incentive for pupils to go to, and stay, in school since it is a place where they can also charge their cellphones while pursuing their education.

Another value added by the electrification is that it could become a revenue generator for the school’s parent-teacher-association (PTA) which they could use to maintain it and the excess in other equally important things.  More importantly, the impact that it will create to the community is imaginable, economically and socially.

Just immediately after typhoon Glenda passed his residence in Tayabas City, Quezon.  The writer immediately ventured on buying a mini solar power generator to light their sar-sari store which they are using until now.  The writer also motivated to research and read a lot on solar energy home and school installation of both off-grid and grid-tie systems. Solar energy use has now become part of his environment's personal advocacy.

Poll Results Show, Filipinos are Fool or Selfish?

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepED QUEZON
Region IV-A (CALABARZON)

The recent 2013 poll results dismayed many particularly those who are expecting that our countrymen are already maturing to select and vote for the right leader that will govern and lead the country in the next three years.  But it didn't happen, the results seem to only signify the legitimacy of political dynasties, and the bogus service-oriented and hypocrite politicians marching as champions of the people.

Graphics courtesy of yahoo news.

Ramon Casiple said in his article that appeared in yahoo news that almost all reform candidates lost in sea of vote-buying, popularity contests, electoral violence, and patronage politics which made 2013 represents a setback to the cause of political reforms.

Jj Marasigan, a nitizen from Sariaya, Quezon, had this to say that we can't really blame people for what we may consider to be poor choices and their money-shaped votes.  He explained quoting Marx that "It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence (their lives). On the contrary, it is their social existence (their economic well-being) that determines their conciousness. To put it simply, as long as our people remain poor, they will continue to be powerless, unable to make the right choices. The system is corrupt not because the government is corrupt. Rather, the government is corrupt because the system is corrupt.

Selfishness viz Selflessness

The consciousness of the common people particularly the majority, the class D and E looks at the present or in their day to day survival only forgetting what the future holds.  This is happening because of lack of education and the critical mind to look not only of what the present could offer but most importantly the future on a much sustainable way.

Quite a number could be aware but selfishness overpower love of community and country.  This is where trapos are quick to respond.  Using the already limited resources of the government or the taxpayers money, they are mascarading as their champions by promising them heavens and earth.

Elected politicians who's very job discription are limited on lawmaking and legislation are quick to trumpet themselves in the limelight as public service oriented leaders using the hundreds of millions of peoples money to most of the time, useless and unsustainable projects.

Local executives on the other hand although its within the means of their power over-emphasized their ways of helping the poor which is actually doing more harm done good because it is seen as a tactic of maintaining a certain level of mendicancy to sustain their power later manifesting into a political dynasty.

These includes free hospitalization, free movies to senior citizens, out of placed scholarship programs targetting college students but forgetting the most needy children in the Basic Education Sector considering our EFA Goals, opening and operations of locally funded colleges which is competing with the already very limited and inadequate resources, free hospitalizations, free burial,free school supplies bearing their names, etc.

Graphics courtesy of Thinking Class Philippines.

In other words, these politicians are trying very hard to establish a welfare-oriented citizenry in a third world or developing country with the citizens having no role or contribution but to ask. These evils could be regarded as poising the government towards bankruptchy without the people knowing it.  The result, there are numerous LGU's which are highly indebted and most importantly, the country as a whole always experience budget deficit and so has to depend on foreign loans.

It is a no surprise that they couldn't pass the Right to Information Bill or follow line budgeting because they know that it would be both political and economic suicide.  Local executives however has to set aside a strategic approach in managing scarce government resources on projects that will later generate investment and job opportunities for their people because of the reasons already stated.

If class D and E benefits from the system on a limited scale, Class C and some of the middle class benefits more from the system.  They could be the side kicks of these politicians or the direct beneficiaries of jobs and contracts in government in return of the support they gave.

It takes two to tanggo.  There not only corrupt politicians but equally there are lots of corrupt middle class both in the government and the private sector who continuously benefit from the system.  Thus, they are working hard to maintain the status quo.

Dr. Edwin S. Martin, Asst Professor at UST teaching Public Administration and Political Science is quick to say in his article entitled Ambiguities of Being a Politician, First and Second Part, Manila Bulletin, April 27 and 29, 2013 that both traditional and seasoned politicians are most likely aware of their ideal responsibilities, yet they allow ambiguity to exist, since they benefit from the prevailing situation including their private and public sector cohorts.

Fools or Just Plain Ignorance and Immaturity

The voting public to be considered fools is a harsh statement and could be considered satirical.  Dr. Edwin S. Martin explains that other than adventurism and opportunism of popular politicians, the level of maturity of the Filipino electorate may be considered as the culprit.

It all boils down to the kind of education our people received which made it a challenge for all educators to really develop a thinking citizens. Another thing is their economic lot. We have to make them self-reliant by continuously educating them patiently and organizing them so that they will become not only responsible citizens whose primary concern is the national patrimony over their own. They need to be kept bombarded on the importance of elections as the perfect way to change their plight aside from their individual economic initiatives.

All concerned citizens therefore the civil society, various information media, every enlightened citizens should zero in on this challenge.  All parties who share common ideals should consolidate their efforts and resources on a grand scale in gradually uplifting peoples' consciousness on how to choose the most qualified people that will help improve the plight of the poor.

Though 2013 could easily be considered as a setback for political reforms,reform oriented candidates should not surrender the fight but instead consolidate their powers in alliance with the civil society and enlightened citizentry.

The STRUGGLE is just starting and for evil to manifest itself is for few good men to do nothing.

(The author has been a political and social activist since college.  He holds both the Bachelors degree and MA (CARMA) from the Philippine Normal University, Quezon and Manila Campuses.  He is currently holding a managerial position in DepEd.  Part of his advocacy apart from quality education is social justice, good governance and financial literacy and wellness.)

The Challenge of Knowing Andres Bonifacio More

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon
CALABARZON

We have known and learned about Andres Bonifacio as the brave poor founder and supremo of the Katipunan, that to support his siblings, he has to sell canes and fans.  He is a reader of Rizal’s writings apart from other classic books written purely in Spanish in his time.

Source:  Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 30, 2012

In this regard, having lived so much in the myth about Abonifacio, we have forgotten to think otherwise that with his traits, Bonifacio must have had a good education.  And to have it otherwise, he must have been not from ordinary poor families but from a middle class one.

In a DZMM  recent interview with De la Salle University History Professor Michael Chua, he explained that he was born of a half Spanish mother and that he lived a life of a middle class until the death of his parents at the age of 14.  He also hold managerial positions in various capacities with an average equivalent income of Php38,000.00 today.  This was the reason why he is able to buy various books which he reads voraciously and learned from (11-30-2015).

Indeed, we know little about Bonifacio and as what Bryan C. Paraiso a senior historic sites development officer at the National Historical Commission of the Philippines said in his article entitled Bonifacio Reveals Fervor in Writings published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, made him an elusive character in the Philippines’ struggle for independence.

With this, Paraiso, repeated historian Glenn Anthony’s comment that “… Bonifacio has been posthumously re-created. He has been given a new personality and a childhood that may bear little resemblance to his real one … The national hero who has emerged from this process of re-creation—the Bonifacio celebrated in history textbooks and memorialized in statues around the Philippines—is, in reality, something closer to a national myth.”

Bryan Paraiso further explained that much of what Filipino students of history know about Bonifacio has been culled from the writings of historians based on firsthand narratives of witnesses and protagonists in the national uprising.

But those writings are colored by the historians’ subjective interpretation, such as the article of Epifanio de los Santos in Revista Filipina that aims to vindicate the Supremo against the “cold and hostile … to the extent of objecting to his being given due recognition”  and the view that Bonifacio was the progenitor of a “class struggle” that arose from the inadequacies of the Reform Movement and apathy of the educated gentry for the masses.

Since college, I was already thinking why many know little about Andres Bonifacio.  With his writing of “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog,” “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa,” and his translation to the vernacular of Rizal’s “Me Ultimo Adios” already put me to admire him and to put him on equal putting with Rizal on a different roles in the shaping of our nation’s history.

Analyzing these facts, we couldn’t avoid really thinking that he must have not from ordinary poor families in his time because other wise, he could not afford to have an education which matches the skills and prowess he shown.

Paraiso is saying the same.  He explained that snippets of prose and poetry may provide a clear picture of the personality and the rational workings of Bonifacio’s mind. “They reveal a man with an adequate education, adept at writing using an elegant hand and passionate about his idealistic and nationalistic principles,” he said.

Bulatlat.com author of Eight Things You Probably Didn't Know About Bonifacio and Katipunan Mong Palatino said that Bonifacio was an actor. He was a member of the Samahang Dramatista ng Tundó. He helped establish El Teatro Porvenir. As an artist, he knew how to effectively communicate with and use the language of the masses. Not surprisingly, his poems (Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa, Katapusang Hibik) are rated as among the best in Tagalog literature. Aside from being well-read, Bonifacio had deep knowledge of local narratives like Bernardo Carpio and Florante at Laura.

Mong Palatino furthers that It is not only Rizal who is considered the ‘pride of the Malay race’. Tan Malaka, one of Indonesia’s national heroes and founding leaders, recognized the heroism of both Rizal and Bonifacio. He specifically cited the revolutionary legacy of Bonifacio and his influence in sparking the anti-colonial movements across Southeast Asia. Professor Ramon Guillermo translated this quote from Tan Malaka: “Si Bonifacio ang pinakauna, hindi lamang sa Pilipinas, kundi sa buong Indonesia, oo, sa buong Asia na nanggaling sa, at edukado bilang, proletaryado, na nag-organisa ng mga proletaryo.”

Critiques and historians alike are validating our misconceptions and myth that surrounds the real Bonifacio which was compounded by the very symbol attached to him.

In an article written by Ambeth Ocampo for the Philippine Star entitled was Andres Bonifacio ambidextrous?, he made mention of how the popular mind commonly portrayed Bonifacio in a cameza de chino raising a bolo on one hand.  This portrayal of him was made into a symbol and immortalized by the work  of National Artist Guillermo Tolentino at the Caloocan Monument.

Teodoro Agoncillo said otherwise that Bonifacio never fought with a bolo. “I interviewed his contemporaries, like Pio Valenzuela and Guillermo Masangkay, and they insist that Bonifacio never fought with a bolo. As a matter of fact, Manila’s hero fought only in one battle—the battle of San Juan—and there he lost and nearly died. But he used a gun. That Tolentino monument is misleading. It compounds further an already popular misconception of how Bonifacio actually fought.”

“Bonifacio neither fought with a saber nor a bolo, as confirmed by minutes of the trial when Aguinaldo’s tribunal enumerated the weapons found on his person. The records repetitiously mention guns and revolvers, but never sabers or bolos.”

Bonifacio didn’t wield the iconic bolo, he didn’t wear the white camisa and screaming red pants, he didn’t shout what has come down in history as “El grito de Balintawak” (The Cry of Balintawak), he actually began the revolution in Pugad Lawin, not Balintawak.”

There is a persistent myth that Bonifacio didn’t win a single battle as leader of the Katipunan. But the Nagsabado sa Pasig event (which is still being commemorated up to this day) involving 2,000 Katipuneros who attacked a Spanish cuartel, proves that there were numerous local battles that Bonifacio and Katipunan spearheaded that eventually led to the military defeat of the Spaniards.

With these, we can safely say that indeed, there is much that we need to know about Andres Bonifacio.  Apart from a hero who met a tragic death and martyred not in the hands of the enemy but in the very hands of a fellow Filipino, we need to continuously reflect on the struggle that still exist between the ilustrados and the masses as clearly reflected by the kind of political leadership today.

Without the needed education in his time, Bonifacio could not have been what he is.   It is a stark reality that the poor's education is very important, and the poor educated ones need to continuously learn and think not for himself but for his country as he struggle to become a new ilustrado.  A new ilustrado and ultimately an elite who will work and struggle for change, good governance, end of political patronage and political dynasties to make the political environment inclusive, not exclusive to evil few.

This is the challenge of knowing Andres Bonifacio more, one of our two major heroes, who unlike Rizal need to be studied more so as in knowing we could do more in realizing his dream and desire for our beloved country.

(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.) 

References:

Paraiso, Bryan C., Bonifacio Reveals Fervor in Writings, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 30, 2012

Ocampo, Ambeth R., Was Bonifacio Ambidestrous?, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 29, 2012

Mong Palatino, Eight Things You Probably Didn't Know About Bonifacio and the Katipunan

Commentary: Martial law and the mis-education of our youth

 By:  Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Sep. 21, 2012

When declared martial law, Ferdinand Marcos ushered in the bilingual setup of using two second languages (mostly English) in education. Marcos saw the education system as his primary vehicle to perpetuate the warped values of his so-called New Society, with disastrous historical consequences. Rather than promote genuine literacy, the bilingual policy only contributed to the miseducation of generations of Filipinos. The damage done to our national psyche is immeasurable. As it is, we are still a nation in search of our soul.

It took us 40 years before realizing the folly of this policy. We have replaced it with a new one called mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTBMLE).

Despite the change, functional illiteracy and low quality instruction continue to victimize us like the plague. The Philippines is missing targets for net enrollment ratio in primary education by 17.2 years, for primary grade completion rate by 10.2 years and for the literacy rate of 15-24-year-olds by 9.1 years.

I celebrated International Literacy Day 2012 with education stakeholders in Mindanao on two occasions, one at the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) in Kabacan, Cotabato, on Sept. 6-8 and the other at Ateneo de Davao University on September 15.

In Kabacan, where Ilocano, Binisaya, Ilonggo and Maguindanaon communities dominate, I delivered three talks. The biggest audience—close to 2,000—came on Sept. 8, International Literacy Day, which was also the 51st anniversary of USM’s College of Education, where I was guest of honor.

On that occasion, I encouraged the tertiary education institutions to help overcome the serious shortage of teachers for MTBMLE by designing at least four types of teacher training programs:

The incorporation of MTBMLE into existing professional teaching programs, where education majors learn how to apply second language acquisition theories.

One-year “fast track” certificate programs for graduates with nonteaching baccalaureate degrees that would equip them with the required pedagogical skills and knowledge for the MTBMLE classroom.

Three- to four-week intensive workshops for experienced certified teachers to become effective in an MTBMLE environment.

Training programs for teaching assistants who are fluent in the local language (L1) but do not have the educational background to qualify for the regular teaching profession.

These parateachers have proven to be effective in situations where the regular teacher is fluent in the official language but does not know the L1 of the learners.

On September 6 and 7, there was an assembly for students and a one-day seminar for teachers. Numerous queries on the whys and wherefores of L1-based instruction and doubts on the program’s effectiveness and sustainability were aired. I sought to dispel these doubts by citing the local and international evidence. I assured the teachers that there are available resources that they can access online, and referred them to education institutions that they can rely on for training. But I could not hide my disappointment over the Department of Education’s “early” exit policy as well as the haphazard implementation of this policy.

Other speakers at the one-day seminar for teachers were: Bonna Duron of Save the Children who talked about their pilot programs in South Cotabato that included B’laan and Maguindanaon communities; Mhawi Rosero of University of the Philippines’ Layap who spoke on language documentation and research; Cito Casquite who gave a lecture on the characteristics of stage 1, 2, 3 and 4 stories for learners as they progress from beginning literacy to fluency; and Noemi Dumalaog who gave a teaching demonstration using Ilonggo on the story about the big-mouthed frog.

I met with USM officials led by Jesus Antonio Dirije, president; Tony Tacardon, academic affairs vice president; and Leorence Tandog, dean of the College of Education. They liked the idea of USM hosting a 3-day national MTBMLE seminar-workshop in February 2013 in time for International Mother Language Day.

The Davao forum was a collaborative project of USM, Ateneo de Davao University, Translators Association of the Philippines and SIL Philippines. Pam Castrillo and Cecile Van Zante led the activities.

The following issues were discussed at the Davao forum:

Pilot programs in Cotabato City and South Cotabato by SIL and Save the Children show children in MTBMLE schools outperforming those in bilingual settings, becoming confident speakers in school, and beginning to write in their native language outside of the school setting.

Parents now participate more in the education of their children because they can understand the language used in school.

The question of Filipino identity is dependent on how Filipinos value their own ethnic identities.

The tertiary education institutions have their work cut out for them because on their shoulders rest the primary responsibility of training our existing and future teachers under the new mother-tongue-based paradigm.

Finally, I wish to invite the public to another forum-workshop titled “Math-talino sa Unang Wika: Teaching the Early Grades Math Curriculum in the First Language.” This will be held on Oct. 6, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at Palma Hall 400, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

(Dr. Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco (rnolasco_upmin@yahoo.com) is an associate professor in linguistics at UP Diliman.)

‘We are Making It Happen,’Luistro Says in a Letter Addressed to DepEd Employees

Originally posted at DepEd website, Aug. 28, 2012

DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro acknowledged and thanked everyone in DepEd for accomplishing important tasks in two years which benefitted the nations children and youth.  “As early as now, I thank each one of you for your contribution to the cause of education: to provide every Filipino child the opportunity to stretch her mind, broaden her heart, and nurture her spirit," he said.  Below is the complete content of the secretary’s letter.

We have been working together under the present administration for a little over two years now. Every one of you knows that the two years have not been all sweet and easy.

At the beginning of our service we inherited a long list of backlogs, received a fresh set of mandates, and accepted what perhaps can be considered as one of the most challenging assignments this department has ever dared to undertake: the reformation of our entire basic education system.

We encountered much resistance—both from without and within our department. In such circumstances, conflicts and arguments are inevitable. And we certainly experienced—even continue to do so—these confrontations.

Despite these challenges, we have proven thus far that we, here in the Department of Education, can work together and accomplish much for a larger purpose which transcends all our individual plans and agenda.

In two years, we have brought the Department back on track toward the fulfillment of all our backlogs in classrooms, chairs and textbooks.

In two years, we have efficiently rolled out, in phases, the K to 12 program, including the Mother Tongue Based, Multi-Lingual Education agenda.

In two years, we have effectively communicated the benefits and mechanics of all our programs to as wide a reach as possible, to all stakeholders and to the public.

All our progress and accomplishments cannot be credited to any one individual or group. They are all products of your collective effort, wherever you are assigned, whatever your role. We are all functioning parts of one complex body; every person fulfilling a task which is unique to him and beneficial to the entire organization.

As early as now, I thank each one of you for your contribution to the cause of education: to provide every Filipino child the opportunity to stretch her mind, broaden her heart, and nurture her spirit.

Our department has begun to become a true government for the people. One that is professional, competent, and committed, set on serving the needs of our countrymen.
Together with all the progress unfolding in the sectors of our economy, health, safety, public works, national defense, and private, the Philippines has clearly gathered momentum toward a better and brighter future.

We are part of this progress. We are making it happen.

This is an opportunity for all of us in the Department to make our mark in history. To leave a legacy for our children, and our children’s children. To make our families proud. This is the perfect time and opportunity to make a difference, and truly be agents of change. To change the face of government. To change the destiny of our people.

Let us work in synergy and convergence. Infect one another with renewed hope and optimism.

We do not deny the uphill climb that stretches out before us. The country we carry on our shoulders—our beloved home—remains huge and heavy. We would need all the focus, strength and determination we could muster to complete these improvements.

Let us revive the spirit of Bayanihan within each of us. Let us all do our part, share the load, that the burden may become lighter. And what seemed impossible can then become possible.

Today, we also join the rest of the nation in mourning the loss of and in laying to rest a true and dedicated public servant, Secretary Jesse Robredo.

Madaming iniwan si Sec Jesse na pwede nating pamarisan. May mga iniwan din siyang salita na may malalim na kahulugan. Aniya:  Hindi lahat ng matino  ay mahusay,  at lalo naming hindi lahat ng mahusay ay matino. Ang dapat ay matino at mahusay upang karapatdapat tayong pagtiwalaan  ng pera ang bayan.  Kailangan ng DepEd ng mahuhusay at matitinong kawani dahil sa ating mga kamay ipinagkatiwala ang mga kabataan ng ating bayan.  

Sec. Jesse’s commitment to uplift the lives of ordinary Filipinos through government is a real virtue all of us should remember and emulate. May the memory of his life and works inspire us, empower us and strengthen us. Like him, may we proclaim to our people that hope remains in government.

I have full faith and confidence in each one of you, and again, Maraming salamat!

We entrust all our efforts to the One who breathes new life into all that we do.

Mabuhay and DepEd! Mabuhay ang kabataang Pilipino!

Jessica Marie 'Aika Robredo's 2003 Grand Prize Winning Piece in the Ramon Magsaysay Student Essay Competition, High School Category

By Jessica Marie Robredo 
www.rappler.com Posted on 08/20/2012 6:27 PM | Updated 08/21/2012 1:05 PM

Secretary Jesse Robredo's eldest daughter, Jessica Marie 'Aika' Robredo, then a 15-year-old high school student at the Universidad de Sta Isabel in Naga City, won the grand prize for the high school category of the Ramon Magsaysay Student Essay Competition in 2003. We are reposting it here from www.rappler.com which the latter took permission from Ramon Magsaysay Foundation to make it available on their website.

www.rappler.com FATHER AND DAUGHTER. Aika Robredo thought highly
 of her father even as a15-year-old Photo from Aika's Facebook page

I was only 12 years old in August 2000 when Jesse Manalastas Robredo was proclaimed as the recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service. I was a witness to how honored the man felt with the recognition given to him. But it was not until I was asked by my English teacher to go over the list of past and present Ramon Magsaysay awardees and write an essay on one of them that I was able to fully understand the great significance of the award. The awardees, I quickly learned, were exceptional men and women who bravely dared to make a difference in making Asia, and maybe the world, a better place.

It was easy for me to pick Jesse Robredo from the list of 229 awardees because he was one person who truly inspired me, and who continues to inspire me to make a difference. To write about his life and his work, however, is a very daunting task, because he is very close to my heart.

Much has been written about his outstanding work as mayor of Naga City from 1988 to 1998 and how he bravely fought corruption, vice, poverty, economic stagnation and dramatically transformed Naga from an inefficient and dispirited city into one of the most progressive in the country. When the euphoria brought about by the Edsa People Power Revolution started to wane and people were starting to doubt if a more authoritarian leadership would work better for the Filipino people, Robredo showed us all that the people are still the most important resource and restored our faith in democracy. He not only worked for the poor but worked with them and involved them every step of the way. He has always pushed for growth with equity, transparency, integrity and he brought honor to his office. But the most essential part of his accomplishments are those that are invisible to the naked eye.

I am 15, but I must admit that to this day, the lessons of democracy, of fiscal management, of people empowerment, are still quite difficult for me to comprehend. What I do understand is that the people of Naga look up to him because he succeeded in making them feel he is just like any one of them. He is simple and humble in his ways. He wears the city government uniform to work. He is in his office before eight o’clock in the morning. He goes around without bodyguards, and he does not believe he is entitled to special perks just because of his office. He lives very modestly as his house and office would reveal.

He is a very dedicated public servant and practices what he preaches. No task is ever too menial for him, whether it is driving around the city at night to check busted lampposts or joining street cleaners and garbage collectors in performing their regular chores.

People see the best in him during the worst of times. He is always the last man on the street during typhoons, making sure that people are safe, and the first one to shovel the mud out of the city after the floods.

In 1998, after serving his third consecutive term as mayor of the city, he stepped down quietly, ignoring suggestions for him to seek higher office or perpetuate himself in power by asking a family member to run in his stead.

Now that I know what the Ramon Magsaysay Award is all about, I feel truly blessed that I happen to be his daughter. I was born exactly six days before he was first elected mayor and I spent the first 10 years of my life with him at City Hall.

If there was one thing that convinced me that he is truly deserving of the award, it is this: He has never made me feel I was different from others just because he is my father. As he goes about serving others, I have never been left wanting for his time and attention. He eats lunch and dinner with us seven days a week, even if it means he has to take two or three more meals because he has to attend a constituent’s wedding or birthday reception. No occasion is too trivial for him. He is there for us not only during PTA meetings or piano or ballet recitals, but even when my math homework gets a little too difficult.

Now that I am a little older, sometimes people would come up to me to tell me what great things my father has done for them. I feel proud. But what puts a smile in my heart is knowing that he also did small things for some people – things like bringing back a wayward son to his distraught mother, helping a male employee patch things up with his wife, or playing basketball on a street corner with the neighborhood kids. Such things may appear inconsequential, but they have brought great joy to others and made them feel important.

His decision to continue serving his native city and resist the lure of national prominence, which a higher elective post could have brought him, had the deepest impact on me and imparted to me life-long lessons: that no deed is too small nor too big if it makes other people’s burden lighter and their lives better; that greatness of spirit can be achieved not through wealth, power or popularity, but by living your life with quiet dignity and by becoming a man for others. By his example, I have been truly inspired to dare to make a difference, break ground, stand up for my own convictions and serve others selflessly and with integrity in whatever field I will find myself in. - Rappler.com

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Robredo’s Legacy on Education as Local Governance Champion

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon
posted 8/21/12 7:06 AM updated 8/22/12 11:10 AM

For the many, he is simply known as a DILG Secretary.  But his more than that.  Prior to his appointment to the Cabinet of Pres. Noy Aquino, he was an accomplished and respected local executive who has made a lot in Naga City's turn around.  He's by far an alternative politician.  A jewel among political leaders who profess and masquerade as champions of the people.  He is not only identified as local governance champion but as an education reform champion too.

The late DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo while on a school visit.

In one of the papers he presented entitled Reinventing Local School Boards in the Philippines, he described how governance reform efforts was able to bring about large-scale systemic reforms in a centrally managed public education system in Naga City.

Robredo’s love for education was illuminated further when he explained his wit on the importance of education in a speech he delivered during the 2011 DEPED NUEVA ECIJA EDUCATION SUMMIT with the theme "Bridging Education Resource Gaps Through Stakeholder Partnership," held on May 18, 2011 at Nueva Ecija Convention Center.

There he explained how Local School Boards (LSBs) can start initiating reforms by considering indicators at the local level such as the drop out rate, achievement level of children, availability of basic four services such as water and electricity in schools, teacher to student ratio and the quality of teachers, among other indicators, to guide the school boards in the allocation of financial resources. 

Emphasizing and explaining how politics often result to misuse of Special Education Fund (SEF), he called on that IT’S HIGH TIME FOR OUR SCHOOL BOARDS TO MAKE GOOD USE OF THE SEF FUND.

The value he attributes to education isn’t surprising because he believes other wise that participation rates in primary education by regions is inversely correlated with the incidence rates for food and overall poverty. 

He explained in his keynote speech that regions with the highest participation and cohort survival rates and lowest dropout rates showed lowest poverty incidence rates. Furthermore, according to the study (UNDP 2010), the correlations support the importance of adopting progressive approaches in fighting poverty and investing in primary education.  Such an approach raises the likelihood of accelerating the realization of the MDG targets.

As such, he is certain that investment in primary education is promising to reduce poverty.  For this, he said, there is much to be done.

According to Ched Azardon of MLE Philippines, in 2009 when mother tongue based multilingual education (MTBMLE) was still unknown, Mayor Robredo was the first to send a contingent to their first MTBMLE summer trainin.  "He openly expressed his love for the Bicolano language," Ched said on short tribute she posted on the group's account.   "When we went to Naga City for MTBMLE advocacy, he met us at the airport at 7:30am and later convened the city council to pass a resolution supporting MTBMLE," she added.

She narrated further that  she admired his deep concern for young pupils and his relentless efforts to empower the community. "What struck me though was his humility and perseverance in facing resistance from local education officials. That somehow inspired me to go out of my small world and engage with the system no matter what," she wrote.

This particular value that the late DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo gives to education isn’t surprising because for one, he has done significant gains when it comes to education in his turf, Naga.  In an article featured by beta.taopo.org, a web engine manned by a group of professionals of various discipline who believes that we can determine what we can change and how, former Naga  City Chief Executive is louded for the gains made by the city and its people.

Accordingly, the article says that before Jesse Robredo became the mayor, Naga City was an impoverished third-class city. All that changed when, in 1988, Mayor Jesse left his corporate job in Manila to run for mayor in Naga. He won, becoming the youngest person in the Philippines to be elected city mayor.

Both the mayor and the city have become multi-awarded, winning over 140 local and international awards. Among Mayor Jesse's personal accolades are the 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, the 1996 Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) Award, the Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM), 1998 Konrad Adenauer Medal of Excellence as Most Outstanding City Mayor of the Philippines and the first ever "Dangal ng Bayan" Award of the Civil Service Commission.

He was also cited by Asiaweek Magazine in 1999 for transforming Naga City from a lethargic Philippine city into one of the Most Improved Cities in Asia. His program "Kaantabay sa Kauswagan" (Partners in Development) gave priority to the impoverished people in Naga, cited by the United Nations as one of the Top 40 Best Practices in 1996. The city piled on so many awards in the Asian Institute of Management’s Galing Pook Awards that, it was eventually elevated to the Hall of Fame.

In 2004, the city’s I-Governance program was chosen as one of the Global 107 Best Practices at the Dubai International Awards. The city was also a recipient of the United Nations Public Service Awards for applying information and communications technology in governance.

I-­Governance is essentially about making the budget and all the services, contracts, transactions, revenue collection, as well as names of accountable officials and employees of the city available to the public.

This is done either through the city’s website, www.naga.gov.ph or through a directory of sorts that the city government published and gave away for free to all the households and establishments in Naga.

Certainly, his legacy should leave an imprint and a signal to us that there is still a lot to hope for given the example held and left by the former DILG Secretary. 

It is a challenge for us all how we can find another gem, actually more gems among current public servants who remains unnoticed but whose genuine hearts and untarnished principles and dignity are just their main wealth.

Being the torchbearers of knowledge, we in the teaching, training and education world should follow the lead to insure that not a few but many likes of Jesse Robredo will come into being. 

Repeating the quote of Herbert Spencer which our beloved Jesse Robredo take note of, “THE GREAT AIM OF EDUCATION IS NOT KNOWLEDGE BUT ACTION.”

How do we take our actions then?

There could already be unknown individuals who are threading the same path as Jesse Robredo has traveled.  The main challenge is how to continue against all odds particularly those who are either misunderstood and thus unpopular and often regarded differently.

Usually, it happens, but once fellow men realized your good intentions and have seen the fruit of your labor through the help of the few who dare to believe, they will surely be our side.

Yes, not every one of us could be us great and popular or multi-awarded as Jesse Robredo, but we can certainly do our share which when combined, impact would be unimaginable.  There are simply lots and lots to hope for-- that this nation shall be great and so its citizens.

The time to take actions is now!

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