JESSE ROBREDO: PUNLAY UPANG BUMANGON SA KAMATAYAN SI LAZARUS

by

PROF. ROLANDO S. DELA CRUZ

Isang bayani ang muling isinilang sa kamalayan ng bayan. Namatay di sa sakit kundi sa mekanikal na aksidente ng isang eroplano.  Isa itong patunay na ang pagbabasbas ng kabayanihan ay di isinasagawa ng lehislatura at di lamang ng matrahedyang pag-aalay ng buhay. Sa huli, mga ordinaryong tao ang nag-aalay ng mga petal ng pagtingala mula sa tuntungan ng isang pedestal. 

Dati, pinaparangalan si Jesse Robredo ng kanyang mga kababayan sa Naga. Sumunod dito ang pagkilala ng mga institusyon na nalirip ang kanyang pagiging dyamante. Ngayon, buong bayan naman ang nagbibigay-puri: isang bayan na nangangailangan ng mas marami pang bayani. Ang pagpupugay sa kanya ay di lamang pagpapasalamat sa pagiging mabuting halimbawa ng pamumuno. Ito ay pagsasabi na mas marami pang tulad nya ang kailangan ng mga mamamayan ng bayang Pilipinas: Kulang pa, kulang pa, sabi nila. Mas marami pang tulad mo ang nais namin.

Ito ay isang uri ng pag-aalsa ng bayan na tila naiinip sa pagdating na isang tagapagligtas. Isang uri ng pambansang diskurso na sumusubok paigtingin ang mga alon sa dagat ng desperasyon. Isang uri ng pagpapahiwatig na sa katunaya’y nag-aantay ng isang tsunaming magbabago sa takbo ng isang nakababagot na kasaysayan ng  kasinungalingan, pagnanakaw at kataksilan sa bayan.

Maaring walang armas ang bayan sa tulad nitong buhos ng damdamin. Maaring walang kamalayang rebolusyonaryo ang mga ordinaryong nagtitiis sa ilalim ng araw o ulan upang silayan ang kabaong na naglalaman ng isang ideya ng pag-asa. Ngunit sa katotohanan, ang pagkakabalot sa kabaong ng isang bandila, pati na rin ang kalahating-tagdang pagwawagayway nito sa isang Palasyo tulad ng sa buong bayan, at ang pagpuprusisyon ng kanyang pagiging ordinaryong tao sa mga bakubako at balubaluktot na mga kalye ay isang uri ng edukasyon para sa bayan.

Ito ay edukasyon di lamang sa pagiging pinuno, kundi sa pag-uugali ng isang indibidwal; di lamang sa pagiging ideyalista, kundi sa pagsasakatotohanan ng mga balakin; di lamang sa pagiging makabayan, kundi sa pagiging halimbawa sa lahat na naghahangad yumakap sa kabutihan; di lamang sa pagiging isa sa mga pinakamababa ng lipunan, kundi sa pagsasabuhay din ng pamamayani ng batas; at, di lamang sa pagiging maka-Diyos, kundi sa pagiging makatao rin. Ang pagkakatutong tulad nito ang tangi, pinakamahusay, at pangmatagalang sandata ng bayan para mamayani sa tunggalian ng mga interes sa lipunan.

Ang dalamhating bumabalot sa pagkamatay ni Robredo ay uri rin ng edukasyon para sa kabataan at mga darating na henerasyon. Ito ay isang aral na di lamang dapat isinasatitik sa mga aklat kundi isinasapusong dapat tumibok sa pang-araw-araw na buhay . Ito rin ay isang aral, na tulad ng dugong umaagos sa ugat ng bawat bata, ay dapat umagos sa kamalayan – kamalayan di ng bawat idibidwal kundi sa bansa bilang isang organismong nangangailangan ng pagkain sa isip at pagkalinga sa damdamin.

Pinapahintulutan ng Diyos magkaminsan ang kamatayang tulad ng kay Robredo upang tumugon sa pangkasaysayang mga pangarap ng nakararami.  Gayunpaman, di sana kitlin makalawa ng sakit ng maikling memorya ang makinang na halimbawa niya. Maraming bayani na ang iniluklok sa mga pedestal ang nangamatay makalawa matapos muling maidlip sa bangungot ang bayang nasanay na sa pang-aabuso at pagiging alipin. Ang paulit-ulit na kamatayang ito ang requiem sa halos  limang-daang taong burol ng bayang Pilipinas.

Kung kailan magiging tulad ni Lazarus ang  bayang Pilipinas, kung kailan ito magbabalikwas upang lumaya mula sa kamatayan sa kasaysayan, ay isang panaginip na sana’y basbasan ng langit. Subalit ang pagbabasbas ay ibinibigay lamang sa mga bayang karapat-dapat kamitin ito. Dapat maging karapat-dapat ang bansa na tumindig sa daigdig ng mga buhay at tunay na malaya. Ang pagiging karapat-dapat na ito, tulad ng pagsisilang kay Robredo sa sinapupunan ng langit, ay kailangan munang isilang sa puso ng bawat mamamayang Pilipino. Kapag ang tibok ng bawat isa ay sumaliw sa tibok ng iba pa upang bumuo ng pangkalahatan, kikibot ang bawat selula, didilat ang mga mata, gagalaw ang mga daliri, muling tatakas ang pawis sa bawat paghinga, pupusyaw ang mukha, babalutin ng katuwiran ang isip. Kapag nangyari ang mga ito, babangon ang Pilipinas.

12:14 nh

26 Agosto 2012

CHIEF JUSTICE MARIA LOURDES A. SERENO: THE JOB TO MIRROR IN HER WORK THE JUSTICE OF GOD

by

PROF. ROLANDO S. DELA CRUZ

God has spoken. President Noynoy C. Aquino appointed a new Chief Justice in the person of Maria Lourdes Aranal Sereno.

Let us not be consumed by the fact that she is the first woman CJ of the land; that she is Valedictorian of her class; that she is well-educated in the Philippines and abroad; that she will serve one of the longest terms in judicial history; and that she is one of the youngest to be appointed in the highest post of the magistrate. More important than all these is that Sereno was the anti-thesis of the legal bandits whom she met when she arrived in the Supreme Court. She will continue to be that anti-thesis until the old has been relegated in the dustbin of history. The underdog is now at the apex of an institution needing a wave of fresh justice. Truth to tell, the Corona camp always ganged up on her. They did that when the majority (through Corona's henchmen) tried to suppress her dissent in the GMA Travel Abroad TRO case. But she did not relent; she did not put down her pen. She issued again another dissenting opinion that explained how the majority tried to hide the truth from the people.

CJ Sereno is no politico. She is a woman with simple needs and and simple life. But she is no ordinary fighter. She knows how a petite woman could get things done in a system dominated by bullies. She works very hard, setting an extremely high standard for her beautiful legal mind to resolve piles and piles of cases assigned her. She does not mingle with people who would try to influence her judicial decisions: no partying, no lavish shopping, no showing-off in society pages to increase her power.

She knows what power means, but just like the great George Washington, she was not interested in power per se. She is more interested in honoring God who is the source of all powers. She simply accepts power as an appendage of a greater Force. Thus, her idea of justice is one that mirrors the justice of God. No wonder, she can never be bought: not even PNOY who, obviously, respects so much the the intellect and the person of Sereno. Upon assumption to office, she immediately voted against the interest of Hacienda Luisita. She was against the majority opinion which initially favored stock options. She was for outright distribution of the land to the landless. It was only after the appeal that the majority set aside stock options, and Corona shamelessly tried to steal the credit by pandering on the poor farmers. From the very start, Sereno was a maverick in a court that lacks independence, always open to lying, always beholden to GMA, always open to clinging on to naked power without accountability.

It was a lonely life for her, away from friends as well as enemies: she devotes herself to dispensing justice without favor and without fear. She even refused to inhibit herself in a case where the accused kept on hounding SC justices through threats and senseless demands to whoever would get the case when raffled in order to inhibit themselves - just so the case would drag on and on. The previous justices who inhibited themselves simply showed cowardice. But not Sereno. She is the epitome of courage that is without any pre-conditions - plain, simple, natural courage that comes from a dignified and principled life guided daily by the words of God! Truly, the mark of a person to head the Supreme Court.

PNOY is on the right track. He knows there is so much to reform from top to bottom in the judiciary. But with CJ Sereno around, PNOY in four years can retire with peace of mind and historical awareness that the CJ he appointed will do her share of reforming our country in the area of justice. There is so much pain in the untimely death of Jesse Robredo that burns our desire for change; but the pain should today be washed away with an ardent hope that change is, indeed, possible: a possibility to give flesh to the essence of political democracy, which is genuine economic and social justice.

I see a country devastated by corrupt people. But today, I salute the Filipino people for producing a daughter capable of loving and serving this nation with truth and justice. If Jose Rizal were alive today, he will not even think of making this country a province of Spain. If he learned of Sereno's appointment, he would not have gone to Cuba to serve the Spanish soldiers. For today, he would know that heroism is so ordinary in this country. As ordinary as serving well the interest of the former Indios he knew. As ordinary as being real Filipino. And Sereno is Filipino. There is so much to be proud of in being a Filipino.

6:37 pm

24 August 2012

LEARNING FROM PAST EDUCATION REFORMS

by

PROF. ROLANDO S. DELA CRUZ

MANILA, Philippines — Any country in the midst of quagmire welcomes change. Unfortunately, not all change is for the better.

This is why it is so vital for the government, in its effort to reform Philippine education, to learn from past mistakes.

President Noynoy Aquino’s goal is crystal clear: bring Philippine education to the 21st century. He meets the problem head-on by transforming the current 10-year system (i.e., Grades 1 to 6, and 1st year to 4th year high school) to become the K-12 system with a 13-year required academic program (i.e., Kinder, Grades 1 to 12).

But what is there to learn from the past?

ABORTIVE  NCEE: ENTRENCHED LACK OF QUALITY

One such effort was the imposition in the 1970s of a college qualification through the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE). Those who did not meet the grade cut-off were forced to give up their dream to enter college and instead proceed to vocational courses.

The theory was that the colleges would produce quality graduates since those to be admitted as freshmen were well-prepared. Those unqualified to enter college, thus, were better off in the vocational fields.

Merely raising the bar, however, became useless because it did not solve the problem of quality itself that was virtually unshakable. Worse, an unintended net effect was the creation of a label that the vocational tract is a mark of failure.

The policy proved inutile as the yearly cut-off grade was lowered because more students did not meet it. Its eventual abolition only strengthened the resolve of many to obtain a four-year degree to avoid the stigma of vocational courses. This led to the establishment of commercialized colleges trying to address market demands, further intensifying the crisis of quality.

BOTCHED BILINGUAL POLICY: FAILURE TO UTILIZE LINGUISTIC RESEARCH

Another reform was the bilingual policy intended to make Filipinos proficient in both Filipino and English.

The theory was that subjects related to being a citizen like Filipino, Social Studies and the Arts could best be taught and learned in Filipino, while subjects that could make one competitive in the world of work like English, Math and Science could best be taught and learned in English.

More than three decades later, Filipino students in general are still known to be weak in all these subjects! For instance, Filipino students almost always rank very low in international education studies and surveys in their age brackets in English, Math and Science.

The bilingual policy failed to consider the simple linguistic fact borne of research that people learn best and faster in their own native tongue. A foreign language competing with a local language in the minds of young people is a sure way to raise children in schools half-baked and with severe issues regarding their cultural identity.

Ideally, teaching in various areas using two or more languages could help develop critical and creative thought since multilingual learning could facilitate rewiring of the brain. But this assumes high-standard teaching which, of course, was virtually absent in the country. In the end, bilingualism only damaged the Filipino as a student for its failure to make his mind and heart whole.

REFORM WITH EYES WIDE OPEN

Based on these failed reforms, the Philippines should learn that it pays to study well a measure, not only in terms of the theory behind it but also in terms of its practicality, prospective efficacy and potential drawbacks. To be merely intoxicated by the promise of a potential harvest leads to waste of time and resources.

In the case of the K-12, is the government doing everything it can in order to prevent foreseeable mistakes?

Has the DepEd already learned enough from earlier errors to ensure that policy makers and implementers consider glaring factors that could undermine the success of K-12?

Is the K-12 going to be a solution or a simply catalyst for new problems to evolve, just like what happened to both the NCEE and the bilingual policy?

There are ideas which really look bright, beautiful, logical, relevant, sensible and promising. However, a policy could also turn out to be producing the opposite of its intended outcome. Worse, such policies could even create new situations that might be more difficult to unlock, if not more embarrassing to live with, than the initial problems it sought to solve. The only antidote to these, then, is utmost lucid thinking no less.

An alumnus and former faculty member of UP Diliman, PROF. ROLANDO S. DELA CRUZ  is President of the Darwin International School System. He studied in Osaka University (Japan), the University of Cambridge (England) and at the University of Leiden (the Netherlands).

NOTE: THIS IS A REPOSTING OF AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE MANILA BULLETIN ON 29 MARCH 2012.

(SOURCE: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/355720/learning-from-past-education-reforms)

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/355720/learning-from-past-education-reforms