Mike Rama to the RDC,Gen. Francia to the DND!

It’s finally official, Cebu City Mayor Michael “Mike” Rama has taken his oath as the new Chairman of the Regional Development Council Region 7 (RDC-7). So congratulations Mike on this appointment, which is clearly following political lines. I’ve been a private sector representative in the RDC for more than 20 years and our work in the RDC is never political. But under the new administration, Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III appointed Negros Oriental Governor Agustin Perdices, who was already stricken with cancer, and died a few weeks later after he signed the appointment. So now it’s another Liberal Party partymate who heads RDC-7.

 Another friend of ours who joined the other day’s mass oath taking is former Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) General Manager Danilo Francia, who took his oath as Assistant Secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND). This appointment proves what we’ve been saying all along that Gen. Francia is a true officer and a gentleman. It is only a hate-filled media, mostly radio broadcasters who are political jukeboxes who tag Francia as corrupt without any basis. So now he is the new DND Assistant Secretary, this time under the PNoy administration.

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 Last Tuesday, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) launched its comprehensive program for Education at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Aside from featuring its education initiatives, it also campaigned for the rehabilitation program for dilapidated public school buildings in the Province of Cebu, advocating for commitments from various stakeholders and its partners to support this noble program, after all, a lot of schools have long been in disrepair and in effect, isn’t conducive to learning.

 RAFI Pres. Roberto “Bobby Aboitiz, who provided the rationale for the launching, pointed out, “Education is an important process in fulfilling our promise of elevating the lives of our poor people, through a comprehensive program in education. Thus as architects of change, it will engage its partners and stakeholders in order to touch people and change the future.” This was accepted no less by Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary Francisco Varela, who admitted that government alone cannot solve the problems of education and having RAFI as its partner is a big boost to reversing the decline of the quality of education in this country.

 RAFI Vice-Pres. Jon Ramon Aboitiz presented the RAFI Education Initiatives pointing out its Key Result areas, notably, “School Governance, Access & Delivery Mechanisms, Capability Building and Tools and Infrastructure.” Jon Ramon Aboitiz admitted, “In our 44-years, we have tried, but recognize that there is more to be done. We still come up with an Education scorecard to improve competitiveness among the schools, continue with scholarship programs for marginalized groups, support eLearning technology and Early Childhood care and development. More importantly, upgrading teachers skills and create a new breed of super teachers through are partners the Coalition for Better Education (CBE) and Center for Teacher Excellence (Centex)! We will sponsor inter-academic competition and continue initiatives for learning environment. We have earmarked P250 million for Education.”

 A 12-year-old pupil, Jessica Abas from the Don Maximino Estrella School in Asturias, was brought in to tell her story about how her school was so dilapidated, even a snake lived in their classroom ceiling. She related that last year, RAFI came to fix her school and when classes resumed, she and her classmates were amazed that her school was not just fixed, but totally rebuilt making it conducive to learning. Hence, she profusely thanked RAFI and its partners for this program. I’m sure that the story of Jessica Abas is the same with the many students around Cebu Province who benefited from RAFI’s help.

 DepEd USEC Francisco Varela responded saying, “We share one dream… it is not just about giving access to education for Filipino children or addressing the poor quality of our education… the dream we share is to bring the Philippines to the educational levels of the rest of the world. Quality education is needed in a modern globalized economy and we should instill the right values for a just and cohesive society in order to achieve this dream.”

 To advocate for its School Rehabilitation Program (SRP), RAFI will have an ad campaign and a website where people who want to help in this noble endeavor can access and give their donations. What in effect RAFI is doing is lighting up a candle in the darkness of our poor educational system. But it cannot do it alone or on its own, they need the support of the entire Cebu community. So let us show our generosity and help in this campaign. The more school buildings that RAFI rehabilitates, the more focused our pupils will be in getting good quality education… and all this starts within our hearts to join in this campaign for a better future for our children.

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