Archive for category Features
Ladol Beach on Digital Detours
I HAD an affair with Ladol Beach last summer. With my cellphone camera, I attempted to capture its natural beauty.
I’ve only been able to upload the pictures today so I posted them right away on my photo blog.
Ladol teems with life
Get to know Ladol on Digital Detours.
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One Great Summer
IT’S BEEN sooooo looooong since I last posted here because I took my vacation seriously. And I tell you, my summer was one of my most memorable.
Just what did I do this summer of 2009?
After my students’ graduation day, I wanted to make my family feel that I am really LIVING WITH THEM, I spent a few days at home, did the cooking, played with my nephews and nieces (there’s abunch of them), and, you know, just lingered around. In the afternoon, I would bike, and at times, jog to the beach to get rid of the fats I have accumulated from graduation treats and birthday parties. On the beach, I would watch the sun as it sets down the horizon and the sea waves as they rush to the shore.
Biking to Ladol Beach, Alabel, Sarangani Province
Sunset at Ladol Beach
After the Holy Week, I started taking part of the Sarangani Big Brother Program by facilitating the SBB Volunteer Training and Leadership Camp. It was a great experience–meeting new friends, going to many places, and, of course, somehow being part of social transformation. I went to Maasim, Kiamba, and Maitum. Alongside facilitating trainings, we had a great time snorkeling in Maasim’s beautiful beaches.
A small-group session youth volunteers in Maasim, Sarangani Province
I was not able to join the SBB Facilitators in other municipalities because I had to attend the Training for Physical Science Teachers of Regional Science High School at the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP-NISMED) in Diliman, Quezon City.
With the Director UP-NISMED and one of our Facilitators
After the training, I spent a few days to meet my friends who are now working in Metro Manila. I feel nostalgic looking at our pictures. And oh, I was able to use my TimeZone Powercard at last (Geesh, I can’t remember how much I had spent at TZ).
Before going back to Mindanao, I paid my Ate Edna and Ate Marissa a visit in Bulacan where they now work.
With Pathways Friends at the MOA
When I returned here, I was sent to another training on the Teacher Induction Program at the Notre Dame of Marbel University. It was another great experience, where I met nice fellow participants who treated me like their younger brother. I also met with my old friends in Marbel and had our usual bowling session.
After a few days, I attended another training at Lun Padidu National High School, Malapatan, Sarangani Province on Improvization of Laboratory Equipment with Concept Integration where I learned how to saw, solder, and, well, utilize recyclables to build instructional materials for my classes.
In between these activities, I had target shooting with Board Member Aniceto Lopez III, swimming with Mayor Lopez, eyeballs with GenSan and South Cotabato Uzzapers (haha), bowling and drinking sessions with yuppie friends, and long hours of sleep.
It was one great summer, don’t you think?
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Sarangans Collaborate to Help School Children to Read
Posted by ayel in Blogging, Current Events, Features, Leadership, Mindanao, Sarangani on April 13th, 2009
NOT ALL school children can read. That is a sad fact about the current education situation in many parts of the country. They are called frustrations readers. This problem hinders kids from getting the most out of their daily lessons, which is deemed to have a great impact to them as they progress on their journey of education.
Grade one pupils from Alabel Central Elementary School and SPED Center receive books from the Alcantara Foundation last year. *Image from QUEST
To help solve this problem, the Conrado and Ladislawa Alcantara Foundation Inc., the Office of the Provincial Governor of Sarangani, the Provincial SK Federation (PPSK), the Local Government Units of each municipality, the Department of Education, and the Ayala Foundation, Inc. joined hands in the Sarangani Big Brother Season 2: Reading is Fun, a reading program.
Sarangani Big Brother, which started last year, is a volunteer-based reading program that runs for 15 days during the summer. Volunteer school teachers will extend their services to the identified frustration readers. Youth volunteers, the Ate’s and Kuya’s of the paraticipants, are also mobilized as teacher aids that will help ensure that the participants obtain optimum learning in the program.
Tomorrow, April 14-16 is the first round of the training of the teachers and the youth volunteers in Maasim, Sarangani Province. That will be followed by the other six municipalities of Sarangani.
Ayala Young Leaders Congress alumni, together with other volunteers from PPSK and the units under the Office of the Governor, will facilitate the training.
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Being the senior AYLC alumnus in the group, I was tasked to talk on Servant Leadership. I am both honored and pressured because this is the topic that I think our Mentor, Sir Monch Mossessgeld, has the credibility to deliver. Haha. I think I will just borrow his words.
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Frequent Blackouts: Proof of Power Shortage?
Posted by ayel in Blogging, Current Events, Features, Sarangani on March 23rd, 2009
I WAS about to take my exam last Saturday at Mindanao State University but it was cancelled due to a sudden power outage. A week before that, several brownouts caused the delay in the submission of our reports on student performance. It doesn’t end with that. There are bigger problems, too, like your cellphone and laptop going empty and you couldn’t connect to your plurk buddies anymore. Seriously, the greater problem is, are we facing power shortage already?
In November last year, Archimedes Flores, general manager of Aboitiz Energy Solutions presented a briefing paper to the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce that projects an 84 MegaWatt shortage next year and 174 MegaWatt shortage by 2011. (Source: GMA News)
On the daily basis, the SocSKSarGen area requires about 150 MW of electricity and this is expected to increase by about 150 MW when the Sagittarius Mines Incorporated (SMI) begins its operation in 2011. At present, the are is sourcing its electricity from NAPOCOR and from two diesel power plants located in General Santos City and Alabel, Sarangani Province. The two power plants produce electricity at only 104 MW. (Source: Edwin Espejo)
The continuous development in the area, such as the rise of new establishments, also increases the power requirement. Now, how are these problems being addressed? For sure, as most activities that people do today involve electricity, we could not afford to deal with brownouts everyday.
CONAL Holdings proposes an answer to this with its plan to build a 200-MW coal based power plant in Kamanga Maasim, Sarangani Province. CONAL Holdings is a venture between the Electricity Generating Public Company Limited (Thailand) and the Alacanta Group, which also operates the Southern Philippine Power Corporation and Alsons Aqua Resources Company in Sarangani Province. (Source: Industrial Info)
Although, Kamanga Power Plant General Manager, Gregorio S. Gonzales, claims that the company will employ technologies that are compliant to Philippines Laws that protect the environment, the people cannot be blamed if they would rise up against it as it still pose danger to Massim, nearby towns Kiamba and Maitum, and even the city of General Santos.
The major drawbacks of coal-fired power plants include emissions of greenhouse gases that are said to contribute to global warming, inroganic aerosols that can damage the ozone layer, and fly ash that can pollute the air and water systems. (Sources: GSA, ORNL, Wikipedia)
Now it is a question of how much are we willing to put at risk for the sake of development?
Public Hearing on the proposed Coal-Fired Power Plant in Maasim, Sarangani Province (Photo by Cocoy Sexcion)
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A Broken Chair, A Broken Window, and a Dead Tree
I WAS one of the room examiners for the National Achievement Test Yesterday and I was assigned at Kawas National High School and there was something about my experience that made me feel sad. It automatically sent me into contemplative mood.
I attended a seminar in Davao City last week. We where we had a speaker from Singapore, who introduced an educational resource employed in his country. It incorporates ICT in education in a deeper level. Looks like they are preparing their students for the world as early as elementary.
I envied it, knowing that such technologies will greatly help the teachers provide the students with more interactive activities.
However, yesterday, as I distributed the answer sheets to the NAT examinees in Kawas, I realized something. A lot of work needs to be done before we can get to the level of ICT integration Singapore is implementing and by the time we get to where they are now, they would have advanced further, leaving us behind with a greater gap.
I thought of that because of the simple fact that many of our students in the public school have not even mastered the basic communication skills. Filling out of the answer sheets took more than 15 minutes. It was supposed to be completed in five minutes.
It took them too long because many of them cannot write well, though most of them are within the age range of 16-18 already. It made me wonder how they passed elementary school. Some of them could not even spell the name of their school or their place correctly. Aside from that, they write very slowly and in mixed up capitalization. How could we expect them to be able to effectively use ICT in their learning, when they haven’t even mastered the basics of communication?
I believe that this is not limited to the school I visited yesterday. It might even be worse in other schools. I could not help but ask what is wrong with our educational system? We have been tackling problems like these and yet the problems seem unbeatable.
I appreciate the solutions being implemented by DepEd. These include the establishment of Regional Science High Schools (RSHSs)–like our school–and Technical-Vocational High Schools (Tech-Voc). These schools address the needs of students with different inclinations. With these programs, those who are inclined to science education can get quality training from RSHSs, while those who are not-so-into academic learning can have their specialized courses in Tech-Voc high schools, and they will not have to go through academic subjects, which can’t appreciate. These schools are given higher allocation by the government to ensure that they deliver quality education.
The problem with these solutions, however, is that these schools cater only to a fraction of the Filipino youth. How about the rest? In addition to that, the very basic problems still exist like low participation rate and sub-standard school facilities. There are still broken chairs and windows.
I have faith in the Department of Education, but everyone has yet get a share in helping our kids obtain quality education. After all, the welfare of your people is a shared responsibility.
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