There was a time in the distant past that Filipinos pride themselves as the best in Asia in terms literacy, numeracy, rhetoric’s, instructions and over-all education standards. It was a time when we can say that our Grade 6 are dependable teachers not simply because of sheer romanticized feelings but because they were dependable educators whose prowess was lead by strong Thomasites educators and sturdy drive towards social mobility. There were times that ASEAN neighbors are coming to enroll in our Universities in University Los Banos , inour International Rice Research Institute , the Coconut and Carabao Center in Visayas State University and the Science City in Munoz Nueva Ecija etc…

Those days are gone , in fact its long gone. What we have now is a shadow of our old self, educationally that is.

The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) recently conducted a study that brought to light a critical issue in the education system in the Philippines – the practice of mass promotion.

The study revealed that students are not genuinely assimilating knowledge but merely advancing through the scholastic system due to mass promotion. This ‘unspoken’ policy of broad-scale advancement, or mass promotion, is linked to substandard learning outcomes.
Justine Raagas, the PBEd Executive Director, stated during the 2023 State of Education Report launch, “Without a robust educational foundation, our global labor force competitiveness diminishes. It hinders innovation, productivity, and economic growth, limiting our potential for progress and prosperity.”

Now this alarming, but not news, this is an old reality, an inconvenient truth that we cannot do something about.

This systemic issue of mass promotion, which has been ongoing for an extended period, not only results in failure to master basic fundamentals such as literacy and numeracy but also leads to behavioral issues as students lack essential values like diligence, resilience, teamwork, and respect.

Assistant Secretary Alma Ruby Torio, representing DepEd, clarified that the department does not endorse mass promotion, as they follow a “performance-based grading system”. According to DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015, the passing grade for all learning areas should be 75.

To me, the issue on Mass Promotion or what the teachers knew as No Child Left Behind policy, which is clearly paving the way for Mass Promotion. Further, DepEd Teachers are also guided by that Performance Based Bonus that actually prohibits or discourage non-passing of students , failure negatively impact their PBB Bonus.

Further, one more thing that hinders educational upliftment is the belief that students who cannot be promoted to the next grade level or year level cannot succeed in life. That is why the prevailing mind set is that ALL MUST PASS, sadly even if competencies are not meet nor mastered.

The need for ACCESS is also a factor the constitution The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. However, herein lies the catch, access cannot guarantee effective workforce.

So in all, we are all in a bind, sala sa init sala sa lamig!

In fact, we cannot and I Cannot recommend whats the best way forward. But one thing is sure Mass Promotion is one negative variable towards meaningful learning and working against the quality of workforce we are creating.

In this difficult times where the poor are in sufferance from the low wages and the escalating prices of fuel, basic goods and services, the pressing need to settle dues of various bills is true cause for mental anguish. The anxiety of failing to settle obligations as they fall mayhap lead to depression for the weak and troubled mind.

Amid the troubles caused by pennilessness, the poor continue to find ways and means to earn just to live decently and hopefully reduce pending if not increasing obligations. The pain of paying the cost of money, at times at usurious rates that the poor are forced to accept for lack of available options during the time of great and urgent need, is simply tormenting.

The injustice that the poor bears is aggravated when he had worked with his sweat and blood and his earnings are not commensurate and worse, is kept by the employer without just cause. The bitter pill to swallow is when the employer resort to lending money at usurious interest purportedly to help the penniless workers. The worker is placed with no option but to bite the proverbial bullet for survival sake.

The employee is at the mercy of the employer who has full control of the situation as to when to pay the wages of the indebted employee. When the wages are eventually paid, the interest of the debt had grown too large that the receivable of the poor employee had been reduced with the huge interest.

There are situations like health needs where the worker is required to settle hospital bills and buy medicines for a sick family member. The same is true when the family has to produce money to pay for the educational needs of children.

Another pressing need is to prevent disconnection of electricity, water services and internet which is a necessity in these times of online classes, work and commercial transactions. These are ordinary obligations that push the poor into panic at the sight of disconnection teams. The burden of additional charges for reconnection and surcharges for late payment is too much for the poor to bear.

Even in instances that the employer does not impose usurious interest on the amount borrowed by the employee, the delayed payment of wages still causes undue suffering as the employee is forced to borrow elsewhere no matter the huge interest that the lender would impose. The urgency of the need is too much that the employee would agree even to the unjust conditions just to be able to produce the needed amount.
comments to alellema@yahoo.com

The Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED), a sustainability think tank, has cast doubt to the viability of the Philippines plan to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) to solve the current power problem.

In a statement, the CEED leadership foresees more problem in using LNG to solve the power cost and security issues confronting the country. The Russian and Ukraine war has made global LNG supply light and volatile because of the long-term contracts (sales) have been signed and effective for the next couple of years. Further, prices of LNG on stock in the Philippines could be prohibitive due to low supply entering the country. LNG while it promises as a source of electricity, but its high cost is too prohibitive to the “common tao”.

Of the seven LNG terminal projects approved by the Department of Energy (DOE), AG&P has received already notice of delivery of imported LNG. The other terminal projects include FGEN LNG Corp., Energy World Gas Operations Philippines, Inc., Excelerate Energy L. P., Vires Energy Corp., Shell Energy Philippines Inc., and Samat LNG Corp.

Further, the think Tank group suggest that the Philippines tap renewable energy from wind sources, readily available and much cheaper. Per report published, under the Green Energy Auction Program (CEAP) prices of as low as P3.40 PER Kwh was recorded in 2022. Also, a new round of auctions in June 20223 would allow over 11,600 MW of new renewable energy capacity in the coming years.

MY COMMENT:
The think tank CEED’s suggestion of tapping renewable energy from wind is well taken instead of LNG. It advantages are stated earlier. The Marcos Administration should heed the CEED’s well thought of idea, energy sustainability-wise.
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WE cannot deny that we too can somehow share the disbelief of the Jews when Christ declared himself as the “Bread of Life.” We can echo in ourselves their reaction: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (cfr. Jn 6,51-58)

It is once again the time to enliven our faith, suspend for a while our human perception of things and allow Christ to tell us things, since he truly tells us nothing other than the ultimate truths that can go over and above what we, with our human and natural powers, can only perceive and comprehend.

We have to realize that in spite of our best efforts to know and understand things, we know that we cannot apprehend everything, much less understand things fully and with finality. And yet we somehow can discern that the reality that governs us goes beyond what we can perceive and understand.

That is simply because of the spiritual character of our nature that would somehow enable us to have at least an inkling, an intimation of the spiritual, let alone, supernatural realities. These are realities that go beyond the sensible world. More than that, these are realities that are poised to make us enter into the supernatural realities since we know we have to contend with mysteries.

This is where and when we have to rely on faith, a gift given to us by God our Creator who wants us to be his image and likeness and, therefore, wants to share his knowledge of things, at least some part of it, with us.

And as the Catechism teaches us, “what moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe ‘because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived’”. (CCC 156)

So, in spite of the tremendous and incredible truth told to us by Christ, we just have to believe that he makes himself the Bread of Life so that he can consummate his mission of redeeming us and of making us like him who is the true image and likeness that God has of his own self.

Yes, we have to reiterate this fundamental truth about ourselves. We are meant to be another Christ (alter Christus), if not Christ himself (ipse Christus). We have to pound this truth of our faith into our mind and heart repeatedly and strongly.

It would be truly good if on our part we try to do our best to correspond to this truth of our faith. Christ so wants us to be like him that he makes himself a bread for us to eat so we can achieve not only a spiritual identification with him but also a material one, at least for a time as we still traverse this world of ours.

What the gospel of Christ as our Bread of Life tries to tell us is that we should try our best to develop a Eucharistic devotion that would lead us to become truly Eucharistic souls. In other words, it is telling us to be another Christ, Christ himself, the very pattern of our humanity, and the savior of our damaged humanity.

It’s incredible indeed! But that is just how it is. With faith, we can hack it.