Independence Day celebrates In Santa Cruz, Marinduque

Santa Cruz Institute (Marinduque) Inc Majorettes from Day High School

 

Santa Cruz Institute Brass Band

 

Santa Cruz Institute (Marinduque) Inc. CAT Officers

 

What do People do?

Independence Day is a day when many people, including government officials, employees, and students, participate in nationwide parades.  However, the main highlight is the police and military parade in Manila headed by the country’s incumbent president, followed by a speech and a 21-gun salute.  Many Filipinos spend the day in parks and malls. Many Filipino communities in other countries also observe the nation’s Independence Day celebrations. 

Public life

The Philippine’s Independence Day is a national holiday so government offices are closed.  There are absolutely no classes in all schools.  Many business establishments are closed except shopping centers. Public transport such as buses, passenger jeeps, and tricycles still operate but their routes may be limited due to the closure of streets used for parades.      

Background

The annual June 12 observance of Philippine’s Independence Day came into effect after past President Diosdado Macapagal signed the Republic Act No. 4166 regarding this matter on August 4, 1964.  This Act legalized the holiday, which is based on the Declaration of Independence on June 12, 1898 by General Emilio Aguinaldo and Filipino revolutionary forces from the Spanish colonization.  The Philippines’ flag was raised and its national anthem was played for the first time in 1898.  However, liberty was short-lived because Spain and the United States did not recognize the declaration.
The 1898 Treaty of Paris ended the war between Spain and the United States. Spain surrendered the entire archipelago comprising the Philippines to the United States.  The Philippines started a revolt against the United States in 1899 and achieved national sovereignty on July 4, 1946, through the Treaty of Manila.  Independence Day was officially observed on July 4 until the Republic Act No. 4166, which set out to move the holiday to June 12, was approved on August 4, 1964.

Symbols
The Flag of the Republic of the Philippines, representing the country is symbolized by the following:

•    Royal blue field – peace, truth, and justice.
•    Scarlet red field – patriotism and valor.
•    White triangle – equality and brotherhood.
•    Three stars on the corners of the triangle – the three main geographical regions of the country  
           namely    Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
•    The sun at the center of the triangle – has eight rays representing the eight Philippine provinces that started the revolt against Spain.The flag is seen in various places across towns and cities in the Philippines during the country’s Independence Day.  Many cars also sport miniature flags on this day.


Town of Santa Cruz here in Marinduque, celebrates Independence Day as Philippines now celebrating 115th year of Independence from all who concurred and disrespect of our Independence. Heroes like Dr. Jose Rizal, Emilio Aguinaldo, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Andres Bonifacio and a lot more Filipino heroes who give their life to fight against Spaniards, Japanese even to American despite that this American through the effort of Gen. Douglas Mc Arthur on his famous “I shall return” promise to the Filipinos that Independence will soon declared in the Philippines.

Modern heroes like Ninoy and Cory Aquino both parents of now Republic of the Philippines President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Jr made their own heroic way of keeping the spirit of Independence Day.

Even 2010 CNN’s Hero of the Year from the Province of Cavite, Efren Penaflorida made it as a hero on his own way. Helping and educating street children and to those who cannot afford to go to school is one of his advocacy that made him a hero by that international news agency.

Here in Santa Cruz another hero for me is Mrs. Mariam Belarmino Rivamonte, the 2012 Metro Bank Search for Outstanding Teacher winner. A elementary teacher graduated Cum Laude at Marinduque State College Matalaba Campus taking up BS Elementary Education. She is also a Alumna of Santa Cruz Institute where she graduated in High School.

 Today as Independce Day celebrates, parade from employees of different offices at the municipality of Santa Cruz like PNP, Santa cruz District Hospital staff, Office of DSWD, DEPED,even Barangay officials of Pag-asa, Lipa and Dolores is here, delegates of students from different public and privates school like Makapuyat National High School students and teaching staff , Santa Cruz Institute CAT Officers and Brass Band, Malindig Institute students, Band and teachers, even the remote national school of Tambangan teaching staff is on parade with the presence of former Santa Cruz Institute Prof. Emmanuel Ricohermoso, Marinduque State College Matalaba and Pag-asa Campus teaching staff, BSAT (Buyabod School of Arts and Trades) students, League of Sangguniang Kabataan with the presence of Quinivette Pedernal SK Chairwoman of Kalangkang also a 3rd year BS-Education major in Mathematic also made it to the parade.

Former Santa Cruz Institute Prof. Manuel Ricohermoso now teaching 

at Tambangan National High School

Student Council Election at Santa Cruz Institute

(Photo edited from Google Images)

 As the Central College Organization 2013 Election is concern, sources from College of Education give the information regarding who will run for office from the both party the College of Business Administration/Commerce wherein this two department join force against College of Education. Juvarts

Daya a 4^th year BS-Commerce, running for President. Daya is a reserve army for ROTC. Roy Retiro, a re-electionist from College of Education. Retiro is the Out-Going Central College Organization President is now seeking for another term.

As of this moment College Department from :

Precinct 1 - Education Dept
Precinct 2 - Computer Hardware ( Education Extension)
Precinct 3 - BSBA /Commerce Dept
Precinct 4 - Room 2 Lower Ground Floor

Election starts at 7:00am and will ends at 12:00pm counting of votes will starts at 1:00pm onwards.

Candidates from ILAW Party almost done casting their votes even the GLEE Party candidates as Mr. Daya is concern he is roving in the lower ground floor.


In Education Department watchers from GLEE Party early in to observe the voting season in the said Department. Retiro's camp on the other hand didnt assign as Mr. Retiro says voting is still on process and by late noon his watchers will be assigned on their designated precinct.

K+12 Education in the Philippines

Review of the newly implemented K+12 Education in the Philippines by Kent Maureen Peligrino 
From the site:http://education-teaching-careers.knoji.com/k12-education-in-the-philippines/


The Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program in the Philippines has been officially started. It has been initiated by the Aquino administration where students will have to undergo a new system of education.

This program will require all incoming students to enroll into two more years of basic education. Thus, the K+12 System will basically include the Universal kindergarten, 6 years of elementary, 4 years of junior high school with an additional 2 years for senior high school.
Moreover, the program aims to uplift the quality of education in the Philippines in order for graduates to be easily employed. The program also aims to meet the standards required for professionals who would want to work abroad.

Most importantly, the system aims to fully enhance and develop the students in order for them to be well-prepared especially in emotional and cognitive aspects. Through this, graduates will be able to face the pressures of their future workplace.

However, not all are in favor of the K+12 Education. There are students complaining of the additional years and there are parents who are not in favor of the additional expenses. But indeed, it is an undeniable fact that additional years in the education system will really require more budgets not just from the government but from the parents as well.

Aside from this, students will need additional classrooms, school supplies and facilities. The program would need more qualified teachers as well.

I personally believe that the K+12 Education in the Philippines would uplift the quality of lifestyle of the Filipino people. But, this could not be done without being prepared. And since the program has already been implemented, what is more important now is for students to do their best and study despite of the lack of facilities. Nothing is impossible when we persist.

As for teachers, continue to teach with love and love what you teach despites of your own personal triumphs and economic crisis. Always remember that the future of the students depends upon you.
As for the parents who have been doing their best in pursuing their child’s education, remember that the program aims what’s best for your children. It will help your children to become globally competitive and if your children will succeed, you will also succeed.

There may be a lot of factors to consider for the K+12 Education to succeed. But as long as we open our minds to change and we will take it on a positive way, we will definitely attain our most-aspired educational standards which will play a great role in our country’s development and will therefore, uplift us from poverty.

K to 12 Program still on the process...

repost from :http://philbasiceducation.blogspot.com/2012/06/deped-k-to-12-overview-of-this-blog.html

"Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of many generations, produced by enthusiastic effort and infinite labor in every country of the world. All this is put into your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it to your children. Thus do we mortals achieve immortality in the permanent things which we create in common." - Albert Einstein 

 

Thursday, June 21, 2012

DepEd K to 12: An Overview:

Eighty posts are now on this site. And it all started with First Things First: A Commentary on DepEd's K +12. This article, first published in Philippine Star, was my attempt to examine the elements introduced by the new K to 12 curriculum of the Department of Education of the Philippines. To aid the readers of this blog, it is perhaps time to collate these posts and to summarize the key messages. This blog describes Finland's approach in Solving the Problems of Philippine Basic Education. The article describes briefly the important elements of Finland's education reform and provides links to videos like "Highly Educated Teachers: The Key to Success". Teachers are indeed on the front line. And in the Philippines, it is disconcerting that a columnist and former politician would even remark, "The parents have spoken. The program has started. Teachers should now accept the program," while a more thoughtful comment from a former DepEd regional official says, "The suspicious is that the sugar- coating of K+12 must have been based on the general reaction of education personnel themselves, particularly the teachers, who number almost half a million. Their culture is one of subservience to whoever calls the shots in the agency, and the latter for their part expect total obeisance to whatever initiatives they pursue...."

YouScooper Maria Trinidad Toriano shares this photo of students attending a class amid flood water at a public high school in Hagonoy, Bulacan. Toriano, a teacher of the school, reports that the area is a catch basin every time there is a high tide. She adds the high tide happens every other week and that floods rise up to knee-level.

What do teachers have to say? With a pervasive "culture of subservience", there is a silver lining: There are teacher groups in the Philippines that are speaking out. The following articles on this blog are some of their voices:   Rather than focusing on the additional years, which most discussions on K to 12 tackle, it is important to examine key elements that affect the quality of education. The biggest mistake of K to 12 is its emphasis on matters that are not at the heart of education inside a classroom. Changes in content, changes in grading system, changes in the number of years of basic education are not the things that make education inside a classroom unique. Distance education, online learning, and even viewing or listening programs provided by networks can carry these education inputs. What makes classroom instruction unique is the teacher. And teachers are ignored.  

The journal Science recently published a review of a book on the basic education system of Finland (Finnish Lessons What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? by Pasi Sahlberg Teachers College Press, New York, 2011. 191 pp. Paper, $34.95. ISBN 9780807752579).  The review emphasizes the following points that were made in the book:

"Imagine you are placed in charge of reforming your country's educational system in order to increase students' academic performance. What would you do? Ideas that come to mind likely include the following: lower the age for starting school, give students more instructions, require more homework, establish a prescribed curriculum for teachers with high performance standards for students, increase competition among schools, provide merit-based pay for teachers, and increase accountability of schools through regular standardized, census-based tests and school inspections. All of these tactics for educational reform have been applied in multiple countries. However, one small country in northern Europe did not follow the global trends when reforming its educational system—and it has done best...."

One may add to this list the changes DepEd is introducing this year to schools in the Philippines and the paragraph still brings truth. Those who criticize criticisms against K to 12 take the wrong assumption of having exclusively the desire to improve quality in education. There is even a slogan, "If not now, when?", as if critics of K to 12 are not asking the same question, "If we do not improve the quality of education now, then when?". Assuming K to 12 is the answer to the country's education problems is a very incorrect assumption. And all one has to do is to compare it against that of Finland and the gigantic difference: In the Philippines, teachers are ignored.

• "Stop K-12, Asks Teachers Group"
• "Panalangin ng mga Guro ng Bayan" (The Teachers' Prayer)
• "Manila Public School Teachers Association: Stop K to 12"
• "Amid Grievances, Teachers Meet Classes Today with a Smile"
• "PNoy and DepEd, Stop Implementing K to 12"
• "DepEd K to 12: A View from Cordillera"
• "Severely Underpaid Teachers Given Bulk of K+12 Program Implementation"

And while teachers are ignored in the Philippines, we are all urged to "Listen to the Voices of Teachers." Unfortunately, DepEd's current idea of "consultative" is merely rounding up a group of teachers from each region and dictating to them what must be done.

The current predicament of Philippine basic education is illustrated in various posts of this blog: (1) "The State of Kindergarten", (2) "First Day of School: DepEd K to 12", (3) "Education Statistics - Philippines", (4) "K+12, Worsening Shortages to Greet School Opening", (5) "Shortage of Teachers", (6) "New Data on Out-of-School Children: UNESCO", and (7) "Deped K+12 in the News: Information or Misinformation." In addition, the root of the problems lies in the failure of higher education to support basic education in the Philippines. The article "Role of Higher Education" reiterates the intimate dependence of the quality of basic education on the performance of higher education institutions. This post also illustrates the scores of Philippine students in standardized exams and how these correlate with the various factors that describe the quality of higher education institutions. In "Deped K to 12: Schools Continue to Slide", these are again highlighted. 


Views against DepEd's K to 12 from various sectors have been incorporated in this blog:

• A Critique of Some Commentaries on the Philippines K-12 Program by Flor Lacanilao
• K+12 Commentary by Manggagawa
• Suggestion to Solve Philippines' Basic Education Problems by Flor Lacanilao
• The Problem with Aquino's K to 12 Program by Jan Marcel Ragaza
• More of the Same - A BusinessMirror editorial
• Education Crisis Worsened under Aquino by AnakBayan
• Ricochet: Will K+12 Fail? by Rene Ezpeleta Bartolo
• DepEd K to 12: Wrong Solution to Wrong Problem by Val G. Abelgas
• DepEd's K to 12 Will Lead to More Dropouts by Cong. Teddy Casiño
• Dagdag Pahirap na Programang K+12 by Ilang-Ilang Quijano and Per Pasion
• K-12 A Big Joke by Fr. Jun Mercado
• K to 12 Program ng Gobyerno ng Pilipinas by David Michael San Juan
• Ilang Mahahalagang Punto Laban sa Programang K-12 ng Administrasyong Aquino by Anakbayan-UPLB
• Deped K-12: To Each His Own by Cito Beltran
• Ten Years of Quality Education Are Better than Twelve Years of Mediocre Ones by the Mindanao Observer
• Barefoot Schoolchildren by Erma M. Cuizon
• Labor Watch: K+12, Job Fairs, and the Out-of-school Youths by Aldwin Quitasol
• K-12: Education Reform for Whom? by Cong. Raymond V. Palatino
• UP Professors on K to 12: Lengthening the Suffering, Increasing the Burden by CONTEND-UP
• K+12 better called K9 by Pet Melliza
• Cooking Shows at K-12 by Rolando B. Tolentino

Yes, all of these articles criticize K to 12. There are articles published in newspapers and on the web that are in favor of K to 12, but most repeat saying the same thing. There is one post in this blog that exemplifies a pro K to 12 essay, which can be read in "Deped K to 12: Blogging".

The problems with K to 12 are not confined to its disregard of teachers and poor implementation. Many of the elements of the new curriculum are also questionable:

(1) DepEd's Spiral Curriculum fails to learn from mistakes made by other countries. And since the new curriculum does not take into account the point of view from teachers, the required expertise as well as teaching materials required by a spiral approach are not taken into account. Lynne Diligent has also written a well thought article on why so many elementary students are not mastering math.
(2) Discovery-based learning is at the heart of the new curriculum. In "A Learner Discovers But a Teacher Instructs", an important clarification of what discovery-based learning is made. And in Rote Learning is Part of Learning, we are reminded of why memorization is important.
(3) Science is not a formal subject in the early grades. "Hooray! No More Trigonometry" argues that science should be taught in the early childhood years.
(4) Short instructional hours are discussed in "The Wisdom behind Deped's Short School Hours" and "Listen to the Voices of Teachers"
(5) Mother Tongue - Multilingual Education is examined in "Language is More than Culture and Culture is More than Language", "Mother Tongue", "A British School where Pupils Speak 31 Languages", and "K12 lessons from ICRISAT".
(6) Kindergarten is the first additional year that has been added by DepEd to Philippine basic education. Kindergarten serves as an excellent yardstick to gauge the government's readiness to implement K to 12. And in this area, the government fails miserably and the following posts on this blog are on kindergarten: "Kindergarten is not Day Care", "The State of Kindergarten", and "A Kindergarten Graduation in the US".  The last one contains a video of a parent describing what children have learned from kindergarten, basically providing us a vision of what kindergarten in the Philippines should be.

With the situation in basic education looking so dire, what should be done? Those among us who criticize K to 12 can likewise raise the same question, if not now, when? We are likewise concerned and driven by the same commitment to improve education in the Philippines. Our answer to these problems can be shaped by placing ourselves as having these pupils as children of our own. And we will act now.

Central College Organization (CCO) Election begins

                College Department is now busy and eagerly excited for the upcoming Central College Organization (CCO) Election that may possible happen on the 3^rd week of this month. Aspiring student leaders from the four departments are now planning for the lineup of candidates.

                Mrs. Raquel Retardo the School President and Day High School Principal, welcomes the Freshmen and Transferees early this afternoon at the SCI Quadrangle during the College Orientation for the By Laws and Regulations of the Institution and the June Calendar of events.

                College Department 1^st program or event would be the Central College Organization (CCO) election followed by Induction Ball and Welcome Party to the Freshmen and Transferees to be held at Santa Cruz Gymnasium this coming June 28^th.

                The said CCO election will now determine if former President Roy Retiro made it to the 1^st ever President who re-elect in the top student council position.

                Would it be Retiro’s second chance of proving that he can be the best more than what he did last year or the challenger will make it to stop the legacy of Retiro and start a better and more strong leadership.?

Future Teachers Organization (FTO) new sets of officers

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION:
EDUCATION ROOM
    By: Jomar Linga

 

New set of officers has been elected last June 6 2013 at Education Room where voters compose of almost 200 students from First Year to Fourth Year aspiring teachers.

Roy Retiro, wins the Presidential position after gaining almost 50% total of votes, while Myrna Penaflorida also a Fourth Year Social Studies Major same with Jomar Linga English Major did not made it to the race.

Retiro on the other hand is the Out-going Central College Organization President, a Fourth Year BS-Education major in Mathematics from the island of Polo here in Santa Cruz. A young student leader having a Student Leadership award last year.. Students now wondering if he will run for re-election in the upcoming 2013 Central College Organization election this coming June 18 2013.

Elected Vice President is Jordan Zulueta a Third Year BS-Education Major in Social Studies win the race after beating the two aspirants from Fourth Year. Despite that Zulueta is not on his seniority year he made it to the next top position with full support from his classmate and colleagues who believes on what he can do.

Rebecca Ramiro,BS-Education Major in English is a  re-elected Secretary and out-going Central College Organization Secretary same as her position in FTO, Ramiro is a diskjocky (dj) at a local FM Radio station in Torrijos, Marinduque,

Ryan Quezada, BS-Education Major in English is a CCO out-going Auditor elected as Assistant Secretary.

Myrna Penaflorida, BS-Education Major in Social Studies elected as Treasurer after losing to Retiro in Presidency. She is a full time mom already but not set as a hindrance for here to pursue her studies. She also finish Philippine Customs degree holder in Manila.

Catherine Riego as Assistant Treasurer, a BS-Education Third Year Major in English made it to the list after Zulueta gain trust of leadership from the Education Department.

Jimboy Limpiada a BS-Education Third Year Major in Social Studies made ikt to the last top position as PIO. Limpiada is a native of Balanacan in Mogpog.

Future Teacher Organization and College of Education is under the supervision of Mrs. Honorata Ricamara.