PRC fixers/ TTU-CPA on activists’ safety/ Ph reading comprehension

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

DON’T BE A VICTIM of some unscrupulous individuals who pose as Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) employees or claim to know some Professional Regulatory Board members or PRC officials and offer their services to help you pass a Board licensure examination or facilitate any transaction in exchange for a hefty amount of money.   Juanita L. Domoguen, PRC Cordillera officer in charge warned the public about this saying who said checking of test papers is computerized and with no human intervention. 

She said test results are final and there is no re-checking or viewing of test papers pursuant PRC Resolution No. 2004-223. She urged the public to report immediately any knowledge of these illegal acts to any PRC Office or email at prc.baguio@gmail.com.

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The Tongtongan ti Umili – Cordillera Peoples Alliance (TTU-CPA) said they welcome Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong’s recent pronouncement that activists are “safe and secure” in the city.

“While it’s a breath of fresh air from the constant attacks of the Duterte administration, Magalong’s statement should be followed by detailed plans to prevent further human rights violations in the city specifically towards human rights defenders and activists,” said Geraldine Cacho, TTU-CPA chairperson.

Individual members and peoples’ organizations condemned what they called “continuous political vilification perpetuated by state forces through Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70 (EO 70).”

“Persistent dissemination of malicious information that our organizations are affiliated with ‘terrorist groups’ not only endanger our lives but also criminalizes and invalidates the advocacies we forward,” said Cacho.

“These alleged claims often result to further harassment, illegal surveillance, trumped up charges, enforced disappearances and even extrajudicial killings as experienced by some of our colleagues,” she added. “We still continue to experience these kinds of harassment through the constant red-tagging and labeling of our activities as initiated by ‘communist-terrorists’.”

Cacho suggested that to further concretize his pronouncement, the Mayor should release an executive order preventing and penalizing any forms of political vilification especially from state forces and institutions.

She added the city executive branch should mark the crafting of Human Rights Defenders’ Ordinance as urgent.
Recently, the Baguio City government formed its own Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC).

Activist groups claimed these program intensifies attacks on legitimate dissent and the disregard of human rights under the Duterte administration.

“It is alarming that while the mayor is making these pronouncements, the LTF-ECLAC is set to continue its program” said Cacho reiterating their position on the formation of the task force. “We have seen how the TF-ELCAC worked in Negros and Manila, leading to baseless and illegal arrests and other forms of human rights violations. This should not happen in Baguio” she said.

According to Cacho, the city government should maintain Baguio City as a peace zone and any program that might endanger its people should be reviewed or scrapped.

“It is only fitting that these should be accomplished in time for the commemoration of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) this 10th of December. Such advancement will signify the city’s utmost commitment to the 71-year old declaration.” Cacho said.

The Tongtongan ti Umili (TTU) is a network of progressive peoples' organizations in Baguio City “advocating for genuine social change and national democracy.” Tongtongan is the local chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) and the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) in Metro Baguio.

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Senator Imee Marcos has called on the education, health, and social welfare departments to act “with a greater sense of urgency,” following a report released Tuesday that the Philippines ranked bottom in reading comprehension among 79 countries.

“Wake up, DepEd, DoH, DSWD and other agencies concerned! It’s panic time to get your act together,” Marcos said in a press statement.

The report, done every three years, was based on a test conducted in 2018 among 15-year-old students worldwide by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), of which the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is sponsor.

“We can argue that the Philippines might have done better if the PISA test were in Filipino instead of English, but what has become of the government’s education and nutrition programs on paper?” Marcos asked.

Marcos cited the DepEd’s lack of statistical data on student enrollment and completion rates as one reason the agency has been left “guessing at what learning programs would be effective.”

The DepEd “could not even name specific programs to increase literacy” during a Senate hearing on the agency’s proposed 2020 budget, she added.

A shortage of K-to-12 teachers to remedy overcrowded classrooms could also have contributed to the country’s dismal performance, “so ways must be found to make the teaching profession more attractive”, Marcos said.

“Brain development is not just about getting a proper education but also the proper nutrition early in life,” Marcos also said.

Citing the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Marcos explained that “more than 30 percent of a Filipino child’s brain will not grow further if malnutrition continues from the time a mother is pregnant until the child reaches the age of five.”

To arrest the incidence of brain-stunting among Filipino children, Marcos has filed Senate Resolution 18 to inquire into all the child-feeding programs of the Department of Health, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the government’s other nutrition-related agencies.

“Their effectiveness will continue to remain in question until they can show that a comprehensive assessment of their programs has been done, if at all,” Marcos said.

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On the issue that the Philippines ranked bottom in reading comprehension among 79 countries, a ranking Cordillera education official said the problem is teachers.

He said if teachers are not competent in teaching, academic performance of students suffer. He said more trainings for teachers should be done to enhance their teaching knowledge and make it easier for students to learn.

He admitted reading comprehension among focus should be given more attention by the Education department.