Teachers of DepEd Cebu Province

LOCAL Cebuano art has a tradition of being top-notch and has a long list of award-winning artists that continues to this day.

The latest addition to the distinguished roster is art student Jay Rommel Labra, a fourth year Advertising Arts major at the Fine Arts Department of the University of San Carlos. His two entries were chosen as finalists (watercolor category) in the recently concluded 41st National Student Art Competition (NSAC). He is graduating next year. In school, he is a member of the Pintuk art group. 

The two paintings that made it as finalists are titled “I need you” and “Behind the Innocent Eyes.” They were painted using
watercolor. That goes to show that he learned a lot from his instructor, the watercolorist Kimsoy Yap.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year dear teachers of Cebu Province.
Hope you enjoy your vacation and the glorification worth P10,000.

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A bill that proposes to make English as the medium of instruction in schools all over the country is seen as a major factor in boosting the tourism industry in the Philippines.

Authored by Rep. Eduardo Gullas (1st district, Cebu), the bill aims to further improve the quality of education in the country and ensure that college graduates are equipped with the necessary English communication skills to make them ready for the global arena.

Tourism Educators and Movers (Team) Philippines founding chairman Robert Lim Joseph said Congress should immediately approve the bill.

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The House of Representatives is set to pass the bill seeking to enliven the use of English in schools and build up global competitiveness of the country's labor force.

Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas, an educator, said he is counting on the House to approve the bill shortly after Congress resumes session on Jan. 19.

The passage of the bill is now just a formality, according to Gullas, a champion of English as a teaching language.

"Mounting global unemployment due to the worsening economic slump has merely underscored the need for our human resources to be proficient in English -- the world's lingua franca -- in order to stay highly competitive in the job markets here and abroad," Gullas said.

The House committees on basic education and culture and on higher and technical education filed a joint report on Dec. 14, strongly endorsing the bill for immediate plenary consideration and approval.

Of the 238 members of the House, at least 202 sponsored the report on House Bill 5619 --the proposed Act Strengthening and Enhancing the Use of English as the Medium of Instruction.

Besides Speaker Prospero Nograles (Davao City) and Majority Leader Arthur Defensor Sr. (Iloilo), the bill's key endorsers include Del De Guzman (Marikina City) and Cynthia Villar (Las Piñas City), chairpersons of the basic and higher education committees, respectively.

Likewise, backing the bill are Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora (San Juan); Joseph Santiago (Catanduanes), chairman of the information and communications technology committee, which looks after the English-driven business process outsourcing and other IT-enabled industries; and Junie Cua (Quirino), chairman of the appropriations committee.

The bill's prominent proponents also include former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. (Pangasinan); Luis Villafuerte (Camarines Sur); Edcel Lagman (Albay); Teodoro Locsin Jr. (Makati City); and Roilo Golez (Parañaque City).

In the previous Congress, the House, voting 132-7, approved the English bill on third and final reading. This was in September 2006, or just eight months before the May 2007 mid-term polls.

The Senate, however, failed to act on the bill because the smaller chamber did not have a functional education committee then.

At the time, the Senate committee was chaired by Juan Flavier, who had said he lacked time to consider any bills. As then concurrent Senate President Pro-Tempore, Flavier also had to preside over the daily Senate sessions, as other leaders of the chamber became preoccupied with their reelection bids.

This time, Gullas said the House and the Senate would have ample opportunity to pass the bill.

As proposed by HB 5619:

English, Filipino or the regional/native language may be used as the teaching language in all subjects from preschool to Grade 3;

English shall be the teaching language in all academic subjects from Grades 4 to 6, and in all levels of high school;

English and Filipino shall be taught as separate subjects in all levels of elementary and high school;

The current language policy prescribed by the Commission on Higher Education shall be maintained in college; and

English shall be promoted as the language of interaction in schools.

The bill also requires English as the language of assessment in all government examinations, and in all entrance tests in public schools as well as state universities and colleges.

Once enacted, the bill would supersede Department of Education (Deped) Order No. 25, which proclaimed a "bilingual" teaching policy.

Meant to develop "a nation competent in the use of English and Filipino," the bilingual policy was adopted in 1974.

Accordingly, the subjects of social studies, character education, values education, industrial arts, home economics, physical education were all taught using Filipino while other subjects were done in English.

Upon implementation of the bilingual policy, however, Gullas said the subjects that were supposed to be taught in English were actually done in "Taglish," or a blend of English and the local dialect. This weakened English in a big way, he said.

"As a language is best learned through constant exposure and use, we have to prescribe again by law, and not simply by administrative fiat, the reinstatement of English as medium of instruction, except of course in Filipino taught as a subject," Gullas said.

A previous survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) indicated that while most Filipinos are convinced that English mastery leads to greater employment opportunities, many still lack proficiency in the language.

In the March 2008 survey by the SWS, only 76 percent of voting-age Filipinos said they could understand spoken English.

Of those polled, only 75 percent said they could read English; only 61 percent said they could write English; only 46 percent said they could speak English; and only 38 percent said they could think in English. (PNA)

The Philippine Australian Alumni Association (PA3i) conferred its first Best Alumnus Award to Atty Noel Guivani Ramiscal, a Filipino cyber lawyer distinguished globally for his legal expertise on information technology.

Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Rod Smith joined BGen. Rafael Romero (Ret.), PA3i President, in awarding a plaque to Atty Ramiscal during the First Philippines-Australia Alumni Forum held at the Yuchengco Hall of the De La Salle University-Manila last December 5, 2008.

In his speech, Atty. Ramiscal, whose expertise in law covers intellectual property rights, human rights, labor, human resource and evidentiary issues that implicate electronic data, said he felt both humility and pride in getting such a distinction.

"I take this as a validation of all the hard work I spent in Australia for almost seven years and all the hard work I have done since I came back here," said Ramiscal, who was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in Law degree at Australia's University of Queensland last November 2007.

At the alumni forum, Ramiscal also launched his book entitled "A Human Rights Approach to Academic Freedoms of Educators in Higher E-Learning" and presented a lecture on "Law and Internet: Current Legal Developments in the Philippines" before an audience of students and law professionals.

Atty Ramiscal obtained his Bachelor of Laws (Juris Doctor) and BA Philosophy (cum laude) degrees at the University of the Philippines. He finished an Executive Certificate Course on "IT: Engaging and Influencing People" at the Asian Institute of Management after completing his Master of Laws (Advanced) degree at the University of Queensland under an AUSAID scholarship, where he graduated with High Distinction. He completed his PhD in Law in the same university as a scholar of the International Postgraduate Research Scholarships Programs of the Australian Government and the University of Queensland.

“School superintendents and their assistants will be trained starting January 2009 to run more effectively the schools and deliver quality basic education to our children,” Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said.

The training is part of DepEd’s Executive Training Program (ETP) for those who passed the Educational Management Test (EMT) given in 2005 and 2008. This second phase of the Superintendents Eligibity will be conducted by DepEd’s National Educators Academy of the Philippines.

Lapus said the ETP is consistent with the major thrust of DepEd to revitalize the
drive and energize the competencies of school officials. The thrust of making the school officials effective managers is required under the School Based Management program that the DepEd is implementing. “This means that we need to make managers out of every principal, every supervisor and superintendent, every administrator and director,” Lapus explained.

For Luzon, the ETP is scheduled from January 22 to 31, 2009 for those who passed the EMT in 2005 from Region I, II, II, NCR and CAR. EMT passers in 2008 from the same regions will have their ETP from January 24 to February 2, 2009. Schools superintendents from Region IV-A, IV-B, V and the Central Office who passed the EMT in 2005 will have their ETP on January 23 to February 1, 2009. EMT passers in 2008 from Regions IV-A, NCR, and V will undergo the ETP on January 25 to February 3, 2009.

For the Visayas, the ETP for those who passed the EMT in 2005 from Regions VI, VII, VIII and IX is on February 8 to 17, 2009. Those who passed the EMT in 2008 from the same regions excluding Region IX will have their ETP on February 9 to 18, 2009.

For Mindanao, EMT passers in 2005 from Regions X, XI, XII and CARAGA will have their ETP on January 9 to 18, 2009. Those who passed the EMT in 2008 from Regions IX, X, XI, XII and CARAGA will have their ETP on January 10 to 19, 2009.

Through the training the participants will be able to clarify their roles and identify
leadership and management capital in relation to their roles.

The training also hopes to make the participants acquire competencies necessary in instructional leadership, management and development of human, financial and physical resources. The training also seeks to improve the superintendent’s competence in ensuring quality standards of basic education. Lapus emphasized that DepEd officials must be transformed into a dynamic
force of strategically-focused, cross-functional education technocrats who are
imbued with a sense of urgency and focus. “Our performance shows that we are moving in the right direction but we need to do more,” Lapus stressed.
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Love at First Sight?

Do you feel like you can find your one true love in a single instance? Do you believe you can find your lifetime partner the moment you catch a glimpse of him or her? Do you find yourself in a trance during the split second you set eye upon that someone who unknowingly makes your heart beat faster in a sudden?

Well, if you do you must have taken the belief of this certain phenomenon. They call it “love at first sight”. I call it “admiration at first sight”.

So why speak of this topic? Quite unlikely for me to talk about since I’ve never felt like this before or even until now, and I doubt if I’ll ever experience this.

I have conducted a quick survey about “Love at first sight”. Fourteen out of fifteen PSHS scholars said that they don’t believe in the existence of this phenomenon. Quite a large number isn’t it?

Now let me express my point of view. Actually, I don’t believe in “love at first sight” simply because I don’t believe that love appears in just a twinkle of an eye. Like most of 
the PSHS scholars, l believe that love shouldn’t be approached hastily. We can only appreciate its real beauty when we accept it freely and unhurriedly.

Love is a wonderful thing when we know what it is and know when we have it. But how many of us know and understand love when we have it? Most of the time, we mistake admiration for love and claim that we have “love at first sight”. But then again, admiration doesn’t equate love.

Love is like a flower. It can’t be handled rudely for it must open naturally and bloom with age, and just like flowers love takes time to grow. It doesn’t appear right there and then.

So, we must not waste our time dawdling along streets and corners searching for that “someone” who could make our hearts throb the moment we gaze upon him or her. Because after all, love only thrives in the hearts of those who do not search for it. 

Reprint from School Paper

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Cases of suicide are now more prevalent on adolescence. Most of our young today experience or show symptoms of suicidal behavior especially begin from age 12 to 15. These things occur whenever their experience non-acceptance from peers, classmates, friends, family and the society as a whole. If you are parent, teachers of concern individual, you should learn some knowledge to quickly determine if a high school student is showing a suicidal signs.


A. The following are commonly seen clues:

1. Giving away priced possessions.
2. Organ donation questions, such as “How do you leave your body to a medical school?”
3. Sudden, unexplained elevation of mood. Mood elevation may indicate that the individual has reached a decision about the suicide and feels relief.
4. Accident proneness, carelessness and death wishes.
5. A statement such as “This is the last time you will see me.”
6. Decrease in verbal communication.
7. Withdrawal from peer activities or previously enjoyed activities.
8. Recent increase in interpersonal conflict with significant others.
9. Running away from home

Things to do to persons contemplating of suicide:

1. Try to alleviate their pain and depression and counseling them in an effort to help them change their perspective on the value of life.

2. Try to find out the things in life that are still important to them; build a plan that will help them see that life is worth living enough to work through problems.

3. Communicate to the person therapeutically by encouraging them to verbalize their feelings like pouring out their sadness while focusing, listening, and looking straight into his eyes as a sign of sincerity. A general measure is to help them speak honestly about thoughts of suicide and the problems that have led them to thinking death as a solution.

4. Constant monitoring of the activities of the person is needed because he may attempt suicide again if support people and better problem solving ability are not available at another time. 

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