Bontoc teachers given awards

By Alpine L. Killa

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey cited teachers here for their dedication and hard work in delivery of quality education to learners amid the pandemic during the Bontoc District Teachers’ Day celebration cum Mid-Year Awards and Bondista Day on Oct. 1 at the Bontoc Central School (BCS) grounds. 
    The celebration for this year was scaled-down with a simple program and limited participants in compliance to minimum health protocols. 
    In his message, Odsey said teachers are heroes, not only during this pandemic but for their everyday contribution to the lives of the learners. He said teachers have the greatest burden in educating, inspiring, and moulding the youth into productive citizens. 
    The mayor shared his experience as an elementary teacher, government employee, and politician for years.
    He said good governance is founded on integrity, ethics, transparency, and accountability. 
    Good governance is a manifestation of good public service and exemplary leadership. This was reflected in the various awards and recognitions accorded to the Municipality of Bontoc. 
     Under the administration of Odsey, Bontoc was an awardee of the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) for three years in a row, a Hall of Famer Most Outstanding Accounting Office in the Philippines, and the Bontoc Municipal Government is the only Local Government Unit (LGU) in the entire Cordillera region qualified for the Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) granted by the national government Fiscal Year 2020 and was given this year 2021. 
     The SGLG is one of the highest awards given by the Dept. of the Interior and Local Government to local government units which recorded exemplary performance covering education, health, disaster preparedness, peace and order, social protection, financial transparency, revenue generation, among others. 
    The mayor credited the awards to the collaborative effort of all stakeholders in Bontoc wherein the education sector is included. 
     Public Schools District Supervisor (PSDS) – Bontoc District Amelia Wacangan expressed her  gratitude to the Bontoc LGU under the leadership of Mayor Odsey for their unending assistance to the education sector. 
    Rodolfo Paspas, school head of Bontoc Ili Primary School and Ut-utan Elementary School joined Wacangan in extending his gratitude to the Bontoc LGU. 
    He thanked the Bontoc LGU for passing Ordinance No. 315, s. 2019 known as the Municipal Teachers’ Day Ordinance of Bontoc, Mountain Province, and allotting P60, 000 annually for this celebration. In Mountain Province, only the Municipality of Bontoc has passed an ordinance allocating from its budget a separate amount for the public teachers to use in the celebration of the National Teachers’ Month. The said ordinance was sponsored by Sangguniang Bayan member Alsannyster Patingan. 
    Also, the Bontoc LGU allots the entire budget earmarked in the Special Education Fund to its intended purpose, and downloading the fund to respective schools for the latter to allot the budget according to the school’s needs. 
    Bontoc recognized and awarded the schools, teaching, and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education (DepEd) - Bontoc District for their exemplary performance also last week. 
    The cash prizes were given to awardees came from the P60, 000 budget allocated by the municipal government for the yearly celebration.
    Awardees shared their inspirational messages.
    Awardees, all dubbed “outstanding” were  Abegail Sawi for Non-Teaching Personnel Level I, Romelin Denis Fagkangan, Non-Teaching Personnel Level II; Secondary Public School Teacher Marietta Kabluyen while Most Compliant Teacher (Private School) was Fredieson Ana-ao. Spark Awardee was Princess Darryl Marquez.
    Presidential Proclamation No. 242 declares Sept. 5 to Oct. 5 of every year as National Teachers Month and Republic Act 10743 declares the 5th day of October of every year as the National Teachers Day and the designation of the World Teachers Day every 5th of October by the United Nations Education and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The theme for this year’s celebration is “Gurong Filipino: Katuwang sa Hamon,  Kasama sa Pagbangon”.