Bill doubling public teachers’ monthly base pay

“Teachers are a special breed and to teach is a special calling. One writer once said, ‘Students are actually better off in a bad school with an excellent teacher, than in excellent school with a bad teacher,’” he said in an event in celebration of the National Teachers’ Month.

The senator has also filed a bill that seeks to provide grants and scholarship with return of service agreements to academic and non-academic personnel to upgrade their qualification through masteral, doctoral or post-graduate studies.

There is a need, he said, to retrain teachers “to meet the instructional aptitude needed to teach an entirely new curriculum provided under the K-to-12 program.”

Angara said the scholarships and grants will also attract new teachers and researchers to the higher education sector.

“I think every teacher realizes deep in their heart that they are not doing this for personal glory or for personal riches but definitely, to leave a legacy. Ito ang nag-iisang propesyon kung saan nasusukat ang kanilang tagumpay sa tagumpay ng iba (This is the only profession wherein its victory is measured by the success of others),” the senator further said.

Angara, a known advocate of educational reforms, said Senate Bill 61 aims to upgrade the minimum salary grade (SG) level of teachers from SG 11 to 19, “nearly doubling their current monthly base pay from P18,549 to P33,859.”

“As we celebrate our teachers’ role in the society and nation building—most especially as molders of our children’s future—we should also give priority to the welfare of our hardworking teachers,” the senator said in a statement on Friday.


Inquirer: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/727411/angara-pushes-for-bill-doubling-public-teachers-monthly-base-pay#ixzz3nOF6ZD2j

Survival Sex in Iloilo City

A survey conducted by Mass Communication students of the West Visayas State University among 100 taxi drivers in Iloilo City showed a high incidence of premarital sex among college and high school students, and even among elementary pupils.

A report on "Survival Sex in Iloilo City" by Professor Ma. Rosario Victoria de Guzman during a City Council committee hearing also showed the rampant survival sex for pay, especially during midterm and finals seasons.

The hearing was conducted by the City Council committee on women and family relations chaired by Councilor Dylee Zulueta Salazar, Task Force on Moral Recovery chaired by George Duron, City Health Office, and City Social Welfare and Development.

The committee is drafting an ordinance regulating the operation of lodging houses, motels, inns and other similar establishments in Iloilo City and providing mechanism therefore and other purposes.

Zulueta Salazar said the committee is gathering inputs to be incorporated in the proposed regulation ordinance.

Based on the survey, De Guzman said that 65 percent of those who frequent lodging houses are students of the same age level, 14 percent are of same age as their father, and 10 percent are of grandfather age.

Majority are students who frequent the places with age bracket of 12 to 24 years old, she said.

The survey report also showed that in one week, 63 taxi drivers brought the students to Katrina Lodge, 45 drivers to Anita, 44 to The Q, 43 to Sofia Lodge, 39 to Green Dragon Lodge, 31 to Queens Court, and eight to Moonlight Lodge.

Mostly wearing civilian clothes, the students or those going to the lodging houses have pick-up points in the vicinity of the University of Iloilo, Iloilo Doctors College, plazas, Arroyo St., Mabini St., Small Ville complex and the White House in Baluarte, Molo district.

see details at : http://www.sunstar.com.ph/iloilo/local-news/2015/03/26/study-students-frequent-lodging-houses-sex-399582

Students engaging in ‘survival sex’ is a clear manifestation of a commercialized education system in the Philippines, according to Anakbayan Panay.

“We cannot deny the fact that some people sell their bodies to pay for their needs but students engaging in ‘survival sex’ to pay the high cost of tuition and other school fees collected by the schools especially as final exam approaches clearly manifests a commercialized Philippine education system ,” said Bryan Bosque, Anakbayan Panay Spokesperson.

According to a research by West Visayas State University College of Communications Professor Ma. Rosario Victoria de Guzman, more students in Iloilo City are engaging in ‘survival sex’.

“In the middle of this issue, the government is doing nothing to take action. Commercialization of education is perpetuated by the government to neglect its financial responsibility and pave the way to privatize education and leave the fate of the students to private educational capitalists that increases tuition fees and other school fees at unprecedented rate which forces students to engage in anti-social activities such as ‘survival sex’ or even commits suicide,” Bosque added.

Meanwhile, Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said, “What we can do is, probably, to hold a meeting with all the owners of lodging houses and motels in the city and remind them of minor checking in at their respective motels.

story : http://www.iloilometropolitantimes.com/survival-sex-a-manifestation-of-commercialized-education/

The Mamasapano issue

Former President Fidel V. Ramos issued a statement on the Mindanao peace process and enumerated what he believes are the possible reasons behind Sunday's bloodshed in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Ramos, who founded the police Special Action Force as chief of the Philippine Constabulary in 1983, found the irreparable loss of 44 commandos in Mamapasano town needless as the operation's targets are yet to be confirmed dead.

"The intended mission of the SAF contingent was to capture Malaysian Zulkifli Abdul Hir (also known as Marwan) and Filipino Basit Usman, both notorious terrorists," Ramos said. "Ironically, it has not been confirmed if these wanted criminals were fully accounted for."

"It is ... clear that the tragic happening was a combination of these factors," he said.

• Inadequate confidence-building measures (CBMs) among the civilian-military-police stakeholders
• Poor or lack of coordination
• Faulty written SOPs and rules of engagement
• Slipshod monitoring of the existing "ceasefire"
• Between maneuver and fire support elements, lack of teamwork
• Poor unit troop leadership
• Poor tactical intelligence
• Lack of sincerity to pursue peace on the part of the MILF
• Inadequate command guidance from the higher commander
• Poor strategic direction from the Commander-in-Chief

Ramos also said government peace negotiators should have consulted retired military and police officers who were assigned in Mindanao.

The Mamasapano operation—which involved nearly 400 PNP-SAF members—took a bloody turn. Some 44 elite cops were killed, while 12 were wounded in clash against members of the MILF.

According to MILF chief peace negotiator Mohaquer Iqbal the bloody clash erupted due to "the lack of coordination between the police and the proper governing bodies."