From Karitoon Classroom to Learning Center

After a year of having been declared as CNN hero of the year, awardee Efren Penaflorida is now into showbiz. He is hosting Ako Mismo program in TV5 and yesterday, was into pictorial for a CD album "For a Better World", PEP reports.

But he did not totally left his advocacies on education. From Karitoon Classrom in Cavite, Efren and his buddies are now building a learning center for the kids.

Buti naman at may improvement na. Sana tuloy-tuloy na ito. Pero teka, di kaya naiinsulto dito si Gloria Macapagal Arrovo... err, Arroyo? Sabi niya before she left, kumpleto naman ang classroom for the education sector. Covering nga lang 120 students per classroom ... o class hall? Kasi ang alam kong classroom mga 30 max lang ang estudyante. Kung hall, puwedeng 120. Pasok din yun sa gymnasium o kaya coliseum.

Pero sabi primary concern daw ng P-Noy Administration ang education. Kaya nga dadagdagan ng 2 years ang basic education ng mga Pilipino. Sana dagdagan din ng classroom. Di ba Bro. Armin Luistro? Kasi kahit 10 years pa ang idagdag sa basic education kung lahat naman ay matututo sa ilalim ng punong mangga o kaya sa may kariton, dagdag-pahirap lang yun sa ating mga kababayan. Not unless.... gusto pa nating magkaroon ng marami pang Efren Penaflorida. Pero di ba insulto yun sa mga Pinoy at sa kasalukuyang administrasyon?

Quantity is not equal to quality

Minus the reproductive health bill, the bigger issue that is dividing the Philippines is the issue of adding two years in the basic education system of the Philippines. Multiply that with rallies and demonstrations and the result: Restlessness.


It appears that one problem with the present administration is its ability to package its messages. The honeymoon period might be an excuse but it should have been clear especially for those who accepted the post that corresponding with their seats are responsibilities and that includes communicating properly what needs to be communicated. The clarity is obvious as the present administration even hired a number of communication specialists and even had a number of departments to cater to that. But then, quantity does not automatically equal to quality.


Because of a problematic communication system, sectors and groups have been opposing the increase in the number of years of basic schooling from 10 to 12. They also argue that quantity is not equivalent to quality as the additional years in the basic education does not automatically mean better students or well-prepared graduates for tertiary schools. Even if the years are short compared with international standards, as long as there are sufficient books, teachers, school rooms conducive to learning and other facilities, the country can still produce quality graduates and globally competitive citizens. Pero kahit dagdagan mo ng 10 pang taon kung kulang pa rin ang mga aklat, guro, paaralan at iba pang facilities, ganun at ganun pa rin ang mangyayari. Palpak pa rin ang magiging resulta.

Sana, nag-iisip ang ating gobyerno. Sana, nag-iisip din ang mga kumokontra at sumasang-ayon sa mga issue. Quantity does not automatically translate to quality.

Lapid and his School Bags Law

Mona Lisa senator, Lito Lapid, passed a bill prohibiting the overloading of the school children's bags. Numbered as Senate Bill 2179, the bill proposes to

limit the maximum load of schoolbags to 15 percent of a student’s body weight. Schools should provide weighing scales to implement this regulation. He also proposed that schools provide more lockers and buy thinner and lighter textbooks.

The reason: Lapid doesn't want other kids to experience what he did when he carried heavy woods and sugarcane in his younger years that instead of growing 5 feet 11 inches, he only grew 5' 9".

Lapid's bill was countered by DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro saying there is no need for a law on that. Nasa discretion na yan ng mga magulang at siyempre, ng school officials. Which is correct. Dahil sa kakulangan ng school buildings at teachers, kailangang wala nang uwian at tapusin na nang mga bata from 6AM to 12NN ang kanilang mga subjects na dapat ay from 8AM to 11AM, at 1PM to 5PM. Ibig sabihin, kailangang dalhin nila ang kanilang mga gamit at wala nang uwian para ma-maximize ang oras.

Sa halip sana na schoolbags overloading ang tinumbok ng kawawang senador, nagpasa na sana siya ng batas na mage-ensure ng quality education sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay ng: tamang oras at hindi long shifts, dagdag na school rooms at hindi lang lockers, matino at kumpletong mga textbooks hindi panipisan ngunit walang kalidad na laman, at de-kalidad na mga guro. Siyempre, dapat gumawa rin siya ng batas na nagtatakda ng dagdag na pondo para sa edukasyon.

At sana rin, sa halip na schoolbags ang tinumbok ng kawawang senador, sana yung batas na lang na nagtatakda ng matinong employee performance evaluation system at automatic kick out policy sa mga nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno na may poor performance. Lalong lalo na sa mga teacher sa rural areas na ang ginagawa sa mga estudyante nila ay pinapag-linis ng bakuran ng paaralan at pinapag-bunot ng damo. At ang pinakasimple, sana nagpasa rin siya sa ethics committee ng Senado ng resolution na ang mga Senador na kakaunti o kaya walang quality na naipasang bills ay bigyan ng parusa sa pamamagitan ng pagkaltas sa kanilang suweldo at pag-a-allocate ng pera para sa mga paaralan.


Kaso, kawawa talaga itong si Senador. Kung feeling niya kulang pa rin siya sa height, mas matindi ang kakulangan niya sa buhay: talino o kahit common sense para makagawa naman siya ng isang makabuluhang batas.

Whistleblowers banned

I missed this from yesterday's news:

Palace: Lozada ‘truth caravan’ dangerous to youth
AFP says whistleblower not welcome in camps

Even then, I had some comments in Ellen Tordesilla's blog which I quote:

I think tama din naman ginawa ni jesli lapuz. Kung papayagan niya kasi na magsalita si Lozada sa mga public schools, magkakaroon ng public knowledge ang mga public school students at magiging publicly aware sila sa pangyayari. Siyempre malalaman din ng mga public school students na niloloko rin pala sila ng gobyerno dahil habang nagpapasarap ang iilan sa million-dollar kickbacks at SOPs, itong mga public school students ay nag-aagawan ang mga puwit sa kakarampot na bangko at pisara ng kanilang mga eskuwelahan; nagsisiksikan sa kokonting classrooms; nagpipipilit gumising ng maaga para lang mahabol ang three shifts ng kanilang paaralan; at nagtitiis sa gutom o kaya nagkakasya na lamang sa limang pisong baon. Kung magsasalita kasi si Lozada, baka mainggit lang itong mga public school students sa sarap ng buhay ng iilan, na maganda rin pala sa Wack-wack, at ansarap ng P650 na burjer ni Abalos. Kung mangyayari yun, baka mag-drop out sila sa klase at mag-applay na lamang bilang mga caddie.

At tama din si Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo when she said that "The youth can be very emotional about this, and the danger is, when we become emotional, we lose objectivity."

Unquote: baka mag-rally ng mag-rally ang mga estudyante at mahulog sa silya ang presidente.

"In the many times that he [Lozada] came out, he has not presented concrete evidence, not even one, to back up his claim," Fajardo said, adding, "And that's dangerous."

Unquote: Di pa rin kasi pinapayagan na lumabas si Neri.

But funnier is the apolitical AFP who also issued statements na bawal ang whistleblower sa kampo. Bakit kaya di rin ipagbawal si Esperon dun? Apart from the fact that he is really due to go, he also blew the whistle without doing the appropriate action -- i.e., by filing cases at the proper courts an attempted coup for the officials whom he said are recruiting him?

Groceries in lieu of classrooms: Handog ni Arroyo sa mga Pilipino

Happy na sana ang Pasko. Sino ba naman ang di matutuwa sa balita galing sa Malacanang: PGMA leads gift-giving rites at DepEd to some 2 million schoolchildren nationwide.

For years, marami ang kulang sa mga public schools: tens of thousands of teachers, a hundred thousand of classrooms, books and other school facilities. But reading on, eto ang bumulaga: Assisted by Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, the President distributed the red gift bags containing rice, groceries, educational toys, school supplies and reading materials at the Bulwagan of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Pasig City to some 600 public schoolchildren, including those from the Philippine School for the Blind, Philippine School for the Deaf, and Muslim communities.

Teka, teka, teka. Kala ko de-kalidad na edukasyon ang gawain ng DepEd. Ba't mukhang pang-DSWD na? Bakit groceries? Di ba puwede kahit additional na titser para di na 3 shift ang mga paaralan? Di ba puwede dagdag na classroom, para wala ng siksikan? O kaya sapat at me kalidad na aklat para me laman ang utak?

Wala namang problema sa pamimigay ng grocery. Pero ba't DepEd at di DSWD? Quoting Doy: Ganito na ba talaga ang country?

Anyway, Merry Christmas na lang po. Umasa na lang po tayo na sa panaginip, matutupad na ang pangarap ni Buknoy... na next year, me silya na sa classroom nila pra di na siya uupo sa sahig.