The power of a dream

If all our public officials turn our dreams into realities, then we would be getting somewhere. Unfortunately, we keep missing the bus.

How many of our officials since time immemorial have travelled to different countries on official trips? How many of them have been invited by governments on some sort of exchange programs? How many have visited places bringing their whole caboodle for short “barangay” on training stints? Zillions!

So, what have come out of these trips? Nothing! Thus, the term “junket” trips. The government spends so much on these trips but nothing has really come out of them. Many officials have used the trips to make “pasyal” (visit places). The President signed a memorandum last January warning public officials for their extravagant and lavish travels abroad. I wonder if it is strictly followed. Abangan!

Last week, I wrote about Laguna de Bay. I really feel so bad about the current environmental conditions of the bay. I’m sure many public officials have visited Lago di Como in Italy. It is such a prosperous bay surrounded with beautiful villas and public parks bringing so much potential and opportunities to the tourism industry of the areas around the lake. I don’t understand why we cannot do the same with Laguna de Bay and the towns around it.

What should the government do to improve Laguna de Bay? First, all the towns need to have a concerted effort to clean up and police the lake from those that exploit it. Second, the mayors of each town near the lake should develop their small docking areas and platforms to welcome the tourists. Third, the surrounding towns must further enhance the quality and marketing of their products. Paete can showcase their woodcarving industry. Angono can showcase their paintings. Los Baños, their yummy delicacies. Pakil, their churches. Liliw, their natural water falls and bakyas. Fourth, the Department of Tourism and the Department of Transportation must provide support by making it easy for tourists to use the lake as a means to go around these towns.

Another place is the Ifugao Rice Terraces. It reminds me of Cinque Terre, a mountainous place by the Italian Riviera. If rice is planted on the hills of Ifugao, grapes are planted on the hills of Cinque Terre. I know for a fact that sometime in 2009, a twinning program between the Ifugao Rice Terraces and Cinque Terre was initiated led by UNESCO Philippines and the local government officials. The plan was to learn more from the management and conservation approaches of Cinque Terre and hopefully apply some of their best practices to the Ifugao Rice Terraces. But what happened?

Cinque Terre (five cities) is very progressive with so many tourists. Our rice terraces are slowly deteriorating despite the fact that tourists still try to reach the area. It is truly pathetic. There are so many opportunities in Ifugao but the province seems to lack government support from the national level. The roads are bad, the structures and facilities for tourists’ convenience and accessibility are very poor.

If only our government officials have the power to dream and the will to make it happen then, our country will truly be able to reach its potential.

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Today, SY 2018-2019 opens in many primary, elementary and secondary schools. The Department of Education expects around 27.7 million students in public and private elementary and secondary schools nationwide. The Department of Budget and Management has approved the creation of more than 75,000 teaching positions for kindergarten to senior high school. The Senate Committee on Finance approved a budget of P549.5 billion for this year. Here’s hoping that everything has been prepared well for the students.

I remember how the late Senator Edgardo Angara in 1991, headed the Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) at the 8th Congress that restructured and instituted wide-ranging reforms in the country’s educational system. The EDCOM produced a 14-volume report citing the needed education reforms in detail: 1) Enhance and equalize opportunities in basic education; 2) Improve the quality and make education relevant to individual and social needs; 3) Professionalize teachers and training; 4) Create a better fit between higher education and employment by a clearer classification of institutions of higher education and their roles; 5) Involve leaders in business and industry in designing programs in higher education to minimize mismatch between graduates and jobs; 6) Provide incentives for students to pursue scientific engineering and technological careers; 7) Set up and support national and regional centers of excellence in the different disciplines/professions; 8) Strengthen and improve graduate education and research; 9) Create a Commission on Higher Education that shall be responsible for both public and private higher education; 10) Make education manageable by re-structuring the country’s system of education, creating a Department of Basic Education (DBE), a Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and a Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

In 2011 (20 years after), Senator Angara called for an urgent review of education through EDCOM II. He highlighted the need for an in-depth assessment of the country’s education system amid declining performance and achievement indicators. He said that any type of educational reform has a shelf life of about five years, after which the results must be reviewed. But due to the rapid technological development, he said, periodic review is necessary after three years. One of the reforms included in EDCOM I is the present trifocal education system. Unfortunately, other reforms recommended such as the creation of a coordinating body among DepED, CHED and TESDA was never implemented. Angara pointed out that almost every education index has declined since the first reforms recommended by EDCOM I were promulgated.                

Angara said the Philippines continues to fall behind other developing countries in terms of learning and mastery in math and science. The root of this poor academic performance, he said, is underinvestment in the country’s education. “Insufficient and unfocused spending on education will continue to hinder our human capital development.”

As chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, he further explained that the proposed EDCOM II would also address the changes in pedagogy, keeping teachers up to date with the latest learning and teaching technologies. “Teachers are at the heart of our educational system. They must undergo continuous training if we want our students to be on par with those from our ASEAN neighbors,” he said.

As a result of the 1991 EDCOM report the following laws were passed: RA No. 7722, “An Act Creating the CHED, et.”, May 18, 1994; RA No. 7796, “An Act Creating the TESDA, et.”, August 25, 1994; RA No. 7784, “An Act to Strengthen Teacher Education in the Philippines by Establishing Centers of Excellence Creating a Teacher Education Council, et.”, August 4, 1994; RA No. 7836, “An Act to Strengthen the Regulation and Supervision of the Practice of the Teaching Profession and Prescribing a Licensure Examination for Teachers and for other Purpose”, December 15, 1994; and RA No. 7797, “An Act to Lengthen the School Calendar from 200 days to not more than 220 class days”, 1994. Despite these laws, nothing has changed.

Angara was a hopeless romantic. He was passionate about education, culture and the arts. He continued to work even after his retirement from public office. His last project, Academia with F. Sionil Jose was about to be launched a week after his death. It was an assembly of a formidable core of the brightest Filipino thinkers, Magsaysay awardees, National Scientists, and National Artists – a powerful force for strengthening Philippine democracy.