5 of 10 Bicol freshmen finish secondary schools, study finds
Data from DepEd regional office here show that Bicol region registered a secondary school completion rate of 52.01 per cent in School Year 2006-2007. The figure is 13.3 percentage points lower than the rate recorded four schools years before.
Completion rate refers to the percentage of first year entrants in the secondary level who complete/finish the level in accordance with the required number of years of study.
It should be noted however, that the rates indicated here refer to public schools only.
Performance indicators show a general deterioration of the region’s secondary school system between School Years 2002-2003 and 2006-2007.
The period saw a 10.6 percentage point decline in participation rate in the secondary level, an indication that more children who should be in high school were not. Participation rate is the ratio of school enrolment to the school age population.
The participation rate of 55.3 per cent during School Year 2006-2007 also means that only a little over half of school-going age children who are supposed to be in high school were enrolled in School Year 2006-2007.
Notably, enrolment in private secondary schools between the School Years dropped by 2.7 per cent and public secondary schools enrolment increased by 4 per cent. Overall however, enrolment in secondary schools increased by only 3 per cent.
Within the same period, retention rate in the secondary level dropped by 7.6 percentage points. This means that the percentage of enrollees in the secondary level who continued to be in school the following year declined.
Transition rate in the secondary level reached 88 per cent during School Year 2006-2007, an improvement of 5.8 percentage points from School Year 2002-2003. Transition rate is the percentage of students who graduated from one level of education and moved on to the next higher level, e.g. from high school to college.
While this means that there was a higher percentage of high school graduates who made it to college/technical courses in School Year 2006-2007 than in School Year 2002-2003, there was also lower perce3ntage of students who reached the final year of the secondary level in School Year 2006-2007 as indicated by the 7.1 percentage points decline in the survival rate.
Repetition rate, or the ratio of the number of students who enrolled in the same year level in the current school year to the total enrollment in the previous school year, significantly increased from 2.7 per cent in SY 2002-2003 to 3.5 per cent in SY 2006-2007.
Similarly, dropout rate, or the ratio of the number of students who left the school for any reason during the school year to total enrolment, rose from 5.8 per cent in SY 2002-2003 to 6.1 per cent in SY 2006-2007.
Aside from the above indicators, results of the Achievement Tests for secondary schools indicate, and more alarmingly, the deterioration of quality in the secondary schools system. The NAT results cover both public and private schools.
On the average not once in the three years of cut-off (75 per cent) for the NAT. Moreover, the underperformance is apparent in all the five subject areas of the achievement tests.
Additionally, results in four of the five subject areas of the National Achievement Test (NAT) generally worsened between SY 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. These subject areas were English (by 1.4 percentage points), Mathematics (by 1.7 percentage points), Science and Health (by 5.7 percentage points) and Hekasi or Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika (by 2.4 percentage points). Only the Filipino subject area showed a measly 1.2 percentage point improvement during the SY 2004-2005 to SY 2006-2007.
On the average, the results of the NAT in the Bicol region weakened by 2 percentage points within the period.
Human resources is the most important resource of the country’s economy. The quality of human resources that enter the labor force bears heavily on the economy’s productive capacity.
Education and other human capital are important in promoting economic growth and a strong position in international markets. Deterioration in an education system can result to an inferior labor force affecting employability and productivity.
Education can be viewed as an investment that equips individuals with the necessary skills for their optimum contribution to the country’s economic and social well-being. Government and households therefore should invest in education with the expectation that higher benefits would accrue over time. (NSCB/PIA)
DOH declares Sorsogon malaria and filaria free
by BA Recebido
Sorsogon City (29 July) — “Finally, we won our battle!”
Dr. Jaime Y. Lagahid, National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (NCDPC) director, officially declared the province Malaria and Filaria Free in a ceremony held at the Sorsogon Provincial Gymnasium on Thursday (July 23).
Arevalo said that their gregarious efforts to combat these diseases that threatened the lives and dampened productivity of several individuals in the province since 1950′s, have finally been rewarded.
“We thank the DOH for recognizing our sustained efforts and partnerships to curb these diseases, and are likewise grateful to the provincial government for making health among its priority agenda, and our NGO partners for their commitment and support in eliminating these diseases even before our target year in 2010,” he stated.
He also cited the local health workers, who in the past years have carried out house-to-house campaigns and mass drug administration (MDA) for residents aged 2-up in order to control the spread of these diseases.
Out of the 40 provinces in the country, only Southern Leyte and Sorsogon has been declared free of Malaria and Filaria diseases.
Arevalo averred Sorsogon province has attained a certain level based on the parameter of DOH wherein these diseases are considered no longer a public threat.
He related recent assessment revealed that only less than 1 percent of the entire population is affected by Filariasis, adding that the province has also maintained a zero case of indigenous malaria transmission over the past five years.
“However, such scenario does not mean we have to sit back, instead, perhaps work harder to prevent the recurrence of the diseases among locals,” he stressed.
“We are looking forward that Sorsogon can achieve the international standard for a Malaria and Filaria free province set by the World Health Organization (WHO),” he positively said.
Meanwhine, Arevalo advised the residents of Gubat, Pto. Diaz, Barcelona, Casiguran, Irosin, Juban, Donsol and Sta. Magdalena towns to take extra precautions and maintain a good environmental sanitation the possibility of recurrence is still there.
Malaria and Filariasis are both mosquito-borne parasitic diseases and endemic in the said areas, mostly with abaca and banana plantations.
Malaria can cause fever, shivering, joint pain, vomiting, anemia, and convulsions to persons inflicted with the disease, while Filaria is debilitating and disfiguring which primarily affects children, women and men living in endemic remote areas.
“The PHT will continue our massive information drive, monitoring and surveillance, partnership with the DOH and conduct border operations in order to sustain the elimination of these infective diseases,” he said.
DOH conferred to Sorsogon province a certificate of recognition and P1 million for successfully eradicating Malaria and Filaria diseases.
Arevalo noted the cash reward will be utilized anew on advocacy campaigns and other measures to prevent the re-emergence of the said diseases.
Present during the declaration ceremonies were Dr. Leda Hernandez, National Filariasis coordinator and NCDPC division chief, Dra. Florence Tienzo, WHO program management officer, Ms. Daisy Sembrano, Glaxo Mith Kline executive director, NGO partners and other stakeholders and cooperators of the program. (PIA)
Sorsogon has 3,056 Pangulong Gloria scholars for CY 2009
by BA Recebido
Rodolfo Benemerito, TESDA Sorsogon provincial director, stated the scholarship program is on the right track having assisted more than 3,000 local scholars with a total funding of P25,088,420.
Benemerito said the amount covers 100 percent tuition fees of the scholars, including training allowances at P60.00/day while on training, and the assessment fee of P500 per graduate.
He added the PGSP covers the following beneficiaries by Strategic Packages (SP) as follows:
- SP IIa with 734 scholars and a total financial requirement of P6,630,160. This refers to qualifications implemented from January to April 2009. Still on-going is the Health Care Services NC II at the Lewis College, Sorsogon City, with 23 scholars.
- SP IIb with 1,918 scholars and budgetary requirement of P16,848,440. This refers to qualifications which started February and for implementation until December 2009, with still on-going training courses in private tekbok schools and in TESDA schools.
- SP IIb (Special Commitment Package) with 110 scholars, of which 10 are scholars of Shielded Metal Arc Welding NC II c/o TESDA Central Office thru OCSA amounting to P125,400. This also includes four (4) on-going programs involving 100 scholars in selected hotel and restaurant or tourism-related courses amounting to P697,000 for Sorsogon City as incentive for hosting the “2009 Hairecord” (Haircutting Competition) in April, 2009.
- SP III which includes qualifications implemented autonomously by two TESDA schools, the Bulan Vocational Technological School with 394 scholars and Sorsogon National Agricultural School with 341 scholars.
- SP V with 206 scholars of “Sa TEKBOK, May Trabaho Ka” (STMTK) Program amounting to P347,580. It covers 40 hairdressing NC II and Beauty Care NC II scholars from the 2008 STMTK balance and 40 Galing Masahista, 40 Galing Mekaniko and 46 Motorcycle/Small Engine repair scholars for SMTK 2009 with a budgetary requirement of P267,580.
- SP V (NTTAQP) with 88 scholars including the National TVET Trainers and Assessors Qualification Program with financial requirement of P440,000 and the 40-hr Trainers Methodology (TM1) and 40-hr Assessors Methodology (AM1) courses designed to qualify TVET Trainers and Assessors as TQ1AQ1 Level.
“Corollary with the Economic Resiliency Program (ERP) of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, TESDA remains steadfast to its mandate of ensuring a sustainable supply of skilled workers and technicians to all local industries within internationally and globally accepted standards,” the provincial director stressed. (PIA Sorsogon)
Lumad Leaders Demand Accountability for GMA’s Crimes Against Indigenous Peoples
In her 2001 SONA speech, GMA said that 100 Certificate of
Ancestral Domain Titles (CADTs) will be distributed every year, but after eight years all she said was “Sa pagpapamahagi ng milyun-milyong ektaryang lupa, 700,000 na katutubo at mahigit isang milyong benepisyaryo ng CARP ay taas-noong may-ari na ng sariling lupa.”
First, she can’t say this smiling and “taas noo” if this is measured against the possible number of indigenous peoples that could have been covered by the implementation of the original 
target of 100 CADTs per year. There are only 107 approved CADTs as of May 31, 2008.
Secondly, the 700,000 beneficiaries is such an incredulously low output for eight years work when weighed against the 11-13 million indigenous peoples population in the Philippines.
Third, indigenous peoples own their lands and these were never, and have never been, for the government to give away.
During the three day State of Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA2009), the lumad leaders were passionate in their consensus that this should be GMAs last SONA. These are men and 
women who had lived in fear, anxiety and insecurity for the future of their people and territories during the past eight years of the Arroyo presidency. These are individuals who had seen the discrimination against their family members, the displacement of their communities, the destruction of the environment, and the death of their fellow resisters and defenders.
The SONA told of a government that is not of the lumad, told by a president that is not of the lumad.
What they know of the Arroyo government is the neglect in the delivery of basic social 
services, the deceit and force used against them to open up their lands for corporation exploitation; the loss of livelihood and deprivation of economic opportunities, the physical and economic dislocation of their communities, repression and violence against their struggle and resistance, and the corruption and the lies of the president.
We all might still have to endure another year of GMA as president, but we will stand with the indigenous peoples in making sure that she leaves next year, that there won’t be any charter change or martial law, and that GMA finally be held accountable for her crimes against the people.
Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center
BIR Oplan Kandado Storms 6 Pangasinan Establishments
BIR warns: It is just the beginning
Dagupan City (29 July) — The aftermath of the storm that was the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Oplan Kandado showed the grim picture of its rage in Pangasinan: six (6) business establishments “flattened” for violating the book of taxation, the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997, as amended.
What made the operation even more coercive, if not frightening, was the fact that it was personally led by the BIR Management Committee (MANCOM) – the BIR Commissioner and his five (5) Deputy Commissioners – and the promise that Revenue Region No.1, Calasiao, Pangasinan was just the start of a resolute campaign that will take MANCOM to all nineteen (19) revenue regions of the BIR all over the country.
Temporarily closed or suspended from operating their businesses last July 17, 2009 while Typhoon “Isang” was wreaking havoc over Luzon were Matutina-Gerry’s Seafood Restaurant (Gerry’s) in Dagupan City and Urdaneta City owned by Gerry R. Austria, Matutina’s Annex I (Matutina’s) in Dagupan City owned by Marlene A. Lorica, Nena’s Garden Restaurant & Catering Services (Nena’s) in Dagupan City operated by Bernardina Mejia, and Silverio’s Seafood & Restaurant, Inc. (Silverio’s) in Dagupan City and Binmaley managed by Teresa Neihum. The closures were effected after the service (and acceptance) of the Closure Orders on the six businesses signed by BIR Commissioner Sixto S. Esquivias IV on the same date.
Revenue Region (RR) No. 1, Calasiao, Pangasinan Regional Director Tomas C. Rosales under whose jurisdiction the operations of the subject businesses fall said that his region was forced to implement the closure orders after they failed to rectify their violations even after they were given all the chances to do so through the 48-Hour Notice and Five (5) Day VAT Compliance Notice.
Commissioner Esquivias was more empathetic. “We do not feel good closing all these establishments considering the hard times. We offered all the help we can give to enable them to settle their dues. However, when they failed to refute our findings or to rectify their tax violations, they gave us no choice at all. Closure is the last thing we have in mind but we will have to do it when the call of duty beckons,” Esquivias said.
The ground cited for the closure of the six (6) businesses was understatement of taxable sales or receipts by 30% or more of correct taxable sales or receipts under Section 115 (a) (3) of the NIRC.
Results of surveillance activities including reading of CRM-POS machines conducted by fieldmen of RDO No. 04, Calasiao, Pangasinan led by Revenue District Officer Joseph M. Catapia showed substantial underdeclaration of sales for the taxable periods 2008 and 1st Quarter of 2009 by the subject taxpayers ranging from a low of 44% to a high of 84%. Gerry’s underdeclared its sales by P14,984,094.52 in 2008 and P4,229,279.69 for 2009 (1st Qtr.), Matutina’s by P6,693,251.62 and P1,542,941.47, Nena’s by P4,095,736.20 and P1,563,789.02, and Silverio’s by P10,284,572.00 and P6,241,157.67.
Total tax due from the six (6) businesses amounted to P32,920,729.83 broken down as follows: Gerry’s – P10,058,602.96 (2008) & P2,812,126.91 (2009 1st Qtr.); Matutina’s – P4,511,625.26 & P992,950.72; Nena’s – P2,612,733.67 & P962,736.09; and Silverio’s – P6,826,303.47 & P4,143,650.75.
“It saddens us to see the fate of the subject taxpayers come to this extreme. This feeling notwithstanding, we should put the country’s interest first above anything else. Let this serve as a mirror for other taxpayers similarly-situated. We will help them comply. But if they persist in their unwanted practices, we will not hesitate to impose the full force of the law,” Esquivias added.
To date, the BIR has padlocked fifty-nine (59) business establishments nationwide. Among those previously padlocked by the BIR under this program were: 1) La Suerte Grocery & Bakery in Magalang, Pampanga for failure to declare more than P50M income in 2008; 2) Charmy Food Phils., Inc., a manufacturer of soybean products in Pasig City, for not declaring P40M of its sales for 2005-2008; 3) Arra’s Fine Dining, a Korean Restaurant in Makati City for understatement of its taxable sales in 2008 by more than P20M; 4) Hilton Mart Corporation, a Grocery (Wholesale and Retail) business plying its trade in Manila, for underdeclaring its sales for taxable year 2008 by more than P1.2B; and 5) Raiko 10-28 Bar & Restaurant, a.k.a. RATSKY, located at Tomas Morato, Quezon City for failure to declare more than P24M sales in 2007, 2008 and January and February of 2009.
Oplan Kandado is the flagship project of the BIR initiated by Commissioner Esquivias which aims to strictly enforce sanctions for non-compliance by business establishments with requirements of the Tax Code. (rtdlc)
Green Advocacy Invites Dialogues with DENR
San Fernando City, Pampanga (29 July) — Not content with the short rally they staged the other day in front of the DPWH Regional Office, green advocates have extended their efforts to save the trees along MacArthur Highway by way of a dialogue with other government agencies including some members of the senate.
And this time, concerned citizens from various parts of City of San Fernando and even priests and nuns from the archdiocese of San Fernando shared their pro-life sentiments to spare the decades-old trees from destruction.
The dialogue between the two contending parties was held a day after the protesters staged a demonstration on July 22 at 7:30am, in front of DPWH Sindalan where the governor spearheaded the demonstration. A’temporary suspension’ of the cutting of trees was announced shortly thereafter.
DENR Regional Executive Director Antonio Principe was unfortunately the only official from his office who was able to shed light on the querries of the advocates. However, he would not elaborate on who was really behind the removal although he admitted that the DENR was given the permit to cut the trees. This fact made the advocates all the more disappointed.
Nuns, residents and other advocates spokeout as several local media men covered the protest action. Also in attendance was Governor Panlilio’s Chief of Staff Amelito Vitug, Rev. Fr. Marius Roque of the Metropolitan Cathedral, broadcast journalist Ces Yumul, City of San Fernando Tourism Officer Ching Pangilinan and Lito Ocampo of FEDHOA. (PIO)
PGMA programs, projects uplifted Filipinos’ health, welfare, says Duque
Manila (28 July) — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the flagship programs and projects initiated by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo since she assumed power in 2001 have successfully uplifted the state of health of Filipinos.
Secretary Duque said that through the initiative and intervention of President Arroyo, the hunger incidence in the Philippines decreased from 23 percent in the last quarter of 2008 to 15 percent today.
He noted that President Arroyo increased the budget of the Department of Health twice which did not happen in previous administrations.
He pointed out that part of the accomplishments of President Arroyo is the increase of PhilHealth’s coverage, saying that about 86 percent of the country’s population is now covered as compared to 36 percent before the Chief Executive’s term.
The Arroyo administration, he said, is doing its best to bring primary services such as health and nutrition to millions of Filipinos.
Assistant Secretary Ma. Bernardita Flores of the National Nutrition Council (NNC) likewise noted that without the intervention of President Arroyo, the Philippines might have a hard time meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets.
Secretary Duque cited the establishment of thousands of Botika Ng Barangay under President Arroyo’s watch where prices of medicines were sold at, lower rates to benefit the poor and the marginalized sector of society.
The other vital accomplishment of the Chief Executive, according to the Health Secretary, is the pharmaceutical companies’ voluntary reduction of prices in 16 essential medicines made possible through the intercession of President Arroyo. (PIA)
Remonde to demonstrators: Keep rally peaceful and orderly
Manila (28 July) — Press Secretary Cerge Remonde has appealed to demonstrators who staged protest rallies against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State-of-the-Nation Address during the 3rd Regular Session of 14th Congress to keep their mass actions “peaceful and orderly.”
Secretary Remonde called on the citizenry to listen to the President’s SONA with an “open heart and an open mind.”
“Let us take the SONA with an open heart and an open mind. Pakinggan nating mabuti ang kanyang mensahe. Suportahan natin yung kanyang mabubuting adhikain at i-criticize natin kung sa tingin natin hindi tama but let us all do that in the right political atmosphere,” he added.
The Press Secretary also called on the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to do their job of keeping the peace during the anticipated rallies “but we ask you do it with maximum tolerance.” (PIA)
Educational reforms improve National Aptitude Test results
Manila (28 July) — Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said various reforms introduced in the country’s educational system by the Arroyo administration paved the way for the improvement in the results of the National Aptitude Test (NAT) from 43 percent in 2003 to 65 percent.
Secretary Lapus said that education got the biggest allotment in the National Appropriations Act every year during the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Believing that education is the great equalizer that gives every Filipino the chance to achieve his dream, President Arroyo has placed education among her administration’s top priorities and pursued aggressively various reforms while providing them increasingly large funding.
Among these reforms, according to Secretary Lapus, are curriculum restructuring that was implemented from pre-school to higher education through the harmonization of pre-school and daycare curriculum; adoption of the Basic Education Curriculum which focused the learning areas into five: Filipino, English, Science, Math, and Makabayan; and, establishment of the Ladderized Education Program (LEP), which provided equivalency pathways from technical-vocational education to higher education.
Secretary Lapus further said that the Arroyo Administration likewise invested heavily in critical learning resources since 2001, such as the construction of more than 95,000 classrooms as of June 2009, procurement of over 135.6 million textbooks, installation of computer laboratories in 4,019 public high schools, improvement of welfare arrangements for teachers that included salary increases, reduction to only six teaching hours a day, training of school managers, and provision of scholarships and educational assistance to over 5.8 million grantees at the high school, technical-vocational and higher education levels.
Noting that teachers are the backbone of education, he stressed that the Arroyo administration allotted some P1.5 billion for teacher training and 60,000 teacher items were filled up from 2001 to 2008 to address the problem of lack of teachers.
All these helped draw significant results, among them, the doubling of enrolment in pre-school to more than 1.1 million students in school year 2008-09; the one million increase in enrollees in public elementary and secondary schools, from SY 2001-2002 to SY 2008-2009; the growing number of students who stayed in school, as cohort survival started to pick up from SY 2005-06; and, the improvements in achievement levels, as evidenced by the results of the National Achievement Tests in elementary and high school levels starting in SY 2005-06.
The President has created the Philippine Main Education Highway which is tasked to ensure that every Filipino child will have the opportunity to get high quality education through reforms in the continuum or a “seamless education”; tighter linkage of tertiary education with industry; and provision of lifelong-learning mechanisms and interventions. (PIA)
Remonde Questions Washington Times Editorial on PGMA-Obama Meeting
Manila (28 July) — Malacanang has cast doubt on the timing, intention and journalistic point of view of the Washington Times’ July 26 editorial on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s meeting with United States President Barack Obama on July 30.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the author of the editorial is also the biographer of Rep. Jose de Venecia, former House Speaker and ally-turned critic of the Arroyo administration.
“Definitely, it is not written from any journalistic point of view,” the Press Secretary said, adding that the editorial came out a few days before the President’s ninth State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) today and her departure for Washington to meet with President Obama upon the latter’s invitation.
“Timing makes it more suspect,” Remonde added. The President is the first Southeast Asian leader invited by the Obama administration. The meeting is expected to deal on security, economy and enhanced bilateral relations between the two allies.
The Washington Times editorial described the choice of President Arroyo for the honor as a mistake “because Mr. Obama is being used to give political cover for the Philippine president’s troubles back home.” (PIA)
