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ABC+: Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines
A POLITICAL
ECONOMY ANALYSIS
OF THE BICOL
REGION
Final Report
Ateneo Social Science Research Center
September 30, 2020
ABC+ Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines
A Political Economy Analysis
of the Bicol Region
Ateneo Social Science Research Center
Final Report | September 30, 2020
Published by:
Ateneo de Naga University Ateneo Social Science Research Center
Author/ Project lead: Marlyn Lee-Tejada
Co-author: Frances Michelle C. Nubla
Research Associate: Mary Grace Joyce Alis-Besenio
Research Assistants: Jesabe S.J. Agor and Jenly P. Balaquiao
The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for
International Development or the United States Government, the Department of Education, the RTI International, and
The Asia Foundation.
Table of Contents
ACRONYMS ...............................................................................................................................
v
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................
1
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................
5
Methodology ....................................................................................................................
6
Sampling Design ..............................................................................................................
6
Data Collection .................................................................................................................
7
Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................
10
BICOL REGION’S POLITICAL ECONOMY ................................................................
11
Geography and Socio-Demographic Profile ....................................................
11
Bicol Region’s Competitiveness and Dominant Industries ..............................
12
Tourism ...........................................................................................
12
Agriculture and Fisheries .................................................................
12
Mining .............................................................................................
13
Political Subdivisions and LGUs’ Fiscal Performance .....................................
13
Priorities of the Region .................................................................................
18
LGU Dynamics .............................................................................................
20
Leadership Change and Decision-Making ......................................................
22
Important Events that Affected the Region .....................................................
24
Opportunities and Constraints of LGU Support to Education ...........................
25
LGU Strategizing to Get More Funds .................................................
25
LGU’s Support for Education .............................................................
25
LGU Management of SEF ..............................................................................
30
BICOL REGION’S PUBLIC BASIC EDUCATION SECTOR .........................................
31
The Dynamics of Leadership and Administration
in the Region’s Education Sector ...................................................................
Institutionalization of Mother Tongue as Medium of Instruction in K to 3 ..........
Worldviews on MT Development ....................................................................
31
33
34
The Level of Bikol Language Contextualization of LMs ....................................
36
Orthography Development and Standardization Effort .....................................
37
The Challenge of Bikol Language Nuances on LM Development ......................
39
The Status of Early Grade Literacy, Numeracy, and SEL
in the Bicol Region ........................................................................................
40
Challenges, Efforts Undertaken, and On-Going Interventions
in Early Grade Literacy .....................................................................
42
Challenges, Efforts Undertaken, and On-Going Interventions
in Early Grade Numeracy ..................................................................
47
Challenges, Efforts Undertaken, and On-Going Interventions
in Early Grade Socio-Emotional Learning ...........................................
48
Covid-19 Pandemic Opportunities and Constraints on MTB-MLE
Implementation ............................................................................................
STAKEHOLDER MAPPING AND ANALYSIS .............................................................
49
52
Stakeholders’ Capacity, Influence, and Support .............................................
54
Stakeholder engagement ..............................................................................
57
Limitations, turn-offs, and disincentives .........................................................
57
Motivation and interest ..................................................................................
58
Avenues to engage stakeholders ...................................................................
59
RECOMMENDATIONS ...............................................................................................
60
REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................
67
ANNEXES ..................................................................................................................
74
L IST of TABLES
TABLE 1.
Number of completed interviews per respondent type
7
TABLE 2.
List of sampled municipalities according to income
classification
8
TABLE 3.
FGD schedule and its respective number of participants
9
TABLE 4.
Average Annual Regular Income and IRA-Dependency of Bicol
Region’s Municipalities by Province, FY 2009-2018
14
Average Annual Regular Income and IRA-Dependency of Bicol
Region’s Municipalities by Province, FY 2009-2018
15
TABLE 6.
Statement of Income by LGU Classification of the Bicol Region, Total
for the Philippines, and Percent Share, FY 2018
16
TABLE 7.
Top 3 Priority Programs of Sampled Municipalities and
Provinces, 2020
18
TABLE 8.
Top 10 Programs and Projects Funded by the Local School
Board by City and Municipal Class, Selected Areas, Bicol
Region, 2020
29
TABLE 9.
Type of organizations present in the sampled municipalities and
their distribution by sector, 2020
53
TABLE 10.
Type of organizations present in the sampled municipalities and
their distribution per income class, 2020
54
TABLE 11.
Brief Profile of Sampled Municipalities
74
TABLE 12.
Average SEF of Sampled Municipalities, Cities, and Province, 20092016
87
TABLE 13.
Detailed Programs and Projects Financed by SEF in Sampled
Municipalities and Cities by Income Class, 2020
89
TABLE 14.
Sample Schools and their Respective Languages
95
TABLE 15.
Challenges, Efforts Undertaken, and Ongoing Interventions in
Literacy by Classification of Languages
98
TABLE 16.
Challenges, Efforts Undertaken, and Ongoing Interventions in
Numeracy by Classification of Languages
102
TABLE 17.
Support by Type of Organization and Municipal Class
104
TABLE 5.
L IST of FigurES
FIGURE 1.
Average SEF of Sampled Municipalities by Municipal Class, 20092016, in million pesos
28
FIGURE 2.
Enrollment Figures of the Public EGE in SY 2012-2013 to
2019-2020
41
FIGURE 3.
Frequency of Stakeholders in Albay and their Organization
Classifications
109
FIGURE 4.
Frequency of Stakeholders in Camarines Norte and their
Organization Classifications
109
Frequency of Stakeholders in Camarines Sur and their
Organization Classifications
110
FIGURE 6.
Frequency of Stakeholders in Catanduanes and their
Organization Classifications
110
FIGURE 7.
Frequency of Stakeholders in Masbate and their Organization
Classifications
FIGURE 8.
Frequency of Stakeholders in Sorsogon and their Organization
Classifications
FIGURE 5.
111
111
Acronyms
v
ADNU
Ateneo de Naga University
ALS
Alternative Learning System
ASDS
Assistant Schools Division Superintendent
BCCD
Bicol Center for Child Development
BE-LCP
Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan
BLGF
Bureau of Local Government Finance
BuB
Bottom-up Budgeting
CHED
Commission on Higher Education
CMCI
Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index
CMGP
Conditional Matching Grant for Provinces
CN
Camarines Norte
CS
Camarines Sur
CSB
City School Board
CSO
Civil Society Organization
DBM
Department of Budget and Management
DepEd
Department of Education
DILG
Department of Interior and Local Government
DLP
Dynamic Learning Program
DPWH
Department of Public Works and Highways
DRRM
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
ECCD
Early Childhood Care and Development
ECEd
Early Childhood Education
ECG
Electrocardiography
EGE
Early Grade Education
EGP
English for General Purposes
EPS
Education Program Supervisor
FGD
Focus Group Discussion
FY
Fiscal Year
A POLITICAL ECONOMY ANALYSIS OF THE BICOL REGION
vi
ICT
Information and Communications Technology
IMs
Instructional Materials
IRA
Internal Revenue Allotment
KALAHI-CIDSS
K to 3
Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated
Delivery of Social Services
Kindergarten to Grade 3
K to 12
Kindergarten to Grade 12
LACs
Learning Action Cells
LCE
Local Chief Executive
LGSF-AM
Local Government Support Fund-Assistance to Municipalities
LGU
Local Government Unit
LM
Learning Materials
LOI
Language of Instruction
LR
Learning Resources
LRMDS
Learning Resources Management and Development System
LSB
Local School Board
MELCs
Most Essential Learning Competencies
MLGU
Municipal Local Government Unit
MOOE
Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses
MPDO
Municipal Planning and Development Officer
MRF
Material Recovery Facility
MSB
Municipal School Board
MSWDO
Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office
MT
Mother Tongue
MTB-MLE
Mother Tongue Based-Multilingual Education
NCPC
Naga City People’s Council
NCR
National Capital Region
NEDA
National Economic and Development Authority
NGO
Non-Government Organization
NPA
New People’s Army
OPAPP
Office of the Presidential Advisory for Peace Process
A POLITICAL ECONOMY ANALYSIS OF THE BICOL REGION
vii
OSY
Out of School Youth
PAMANA
PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn
PDPFP
Provincial Development Physical Framework Plan
PED
Provincial Education Department
PLGU
Provincial Local Government Unit
PNP
Philippine National Police
PPAs
Programs, Projects, and Activities
PPDO
Provincial Planning and Development Officer
Prin
Principal
PSA
Philippine Statistics Authority
PSDS
Public Schools District Supervisor
PTA
Parent-Teacher Association
RA
Republic Act
RHU
Rural Health Unit
SDGs
Sustainable Development Goals
SDO
Schools Division Office
SDS
Schools Division Superintendent
SEF
Special Education Fund
SEL
Socio-emotional Learning
SMEs
Small and Micro-Entrepreneurs
SPED
Special Education
SSI
Semi-Structured Interview
SY
School Year
TAF
The Asia Foundation
TD
Tropical depressions
TY
Typhoons
UN
United Nations
USAID
United States Agency for International Development
WASH
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
WinS
WASH in Schools
A POLITICAL ECONOMY ANALYSIS OF THE BICOL REGION
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Bicol Region was selected as one of the areas for the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported
ABC+ Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines project, which
aims to support the Department of Education (DepEd) in improving
basic life skills for children in the early grades in this linguistically
diverse region. This Political Economy Analysis of the Bicol Region
hopes to provide The Asia Foundation with an understanding of
the overall political-economic context of the region. This analysis
identifies entry points at the regional scale for the project, provides a
deeper analysis of the region’s early grade, basic education focused on
literacy and numeracy, and illustrates the status of network
support specific to Kindergarten to Grade 3 with an emphasis on
key decision-makers and actors, the scope of influence, and their
behavior towards the achievement of the ABC+ project objectives.
This qualitative study used document review, semi-structured
interviews (SSI), and focus group discussions (FGDs) to collect data.
Sampling was mainly purposive. The interviews were conducted
mostly in Filipino. This study has a total of 31 municipalities and
three cities. Six online FGDs were conducted with representatives
from NGOs, businesses, and civic, church-based, and professional
organizations. Data were analyzed using the factors outlined in the
USAID’s Applied Political Economy Analysis Field Guide, with a
focus on foundational factors, rules of the game, and the here and
now. This analytical methodology applied to the three sections of the report—
regional level, education sector, and stakeholders’ mapping.
1
A POLITICAL ECONOMY ANALYSIS OF THE BICOL REGION
The Bicol Region, a peninsula in the southeastern part of Luzon, has six provinces with
a population of 5.8 million. The Region’s poverty incidence in 2018 was
26.8%, higher than the country’s rate of 16.6%. Its dominant industries are
tourism, agriculture and fisheries, and mining. The region’s economic performance
is negatively affected by El Niño, La Niña, volcanic eruptions, and the frequent
typhoons, including the year’s global health pandemic. Politically, the Region is
subdivided into 16 congressional districts, seven cities, 107 municipalities, and
3,471 barangays. The majority of the region’s municipalities are classified as third
to fifth-income classes, which shows the low level of their financial capacity. The top
priority programs of the sampled local government units (LGUs) include providing
social services, particularly education and health, infrastructure development, and
livelihood and employment. Most of these programs are said to be aligned with the
province. However, LGU dynamics, such as leadership change, the interplay of
the LGU’s budget and the elected officials’ terms, political clouts, networking, and
differences, and the leaders’ priorities and management styles can affect the pursuit and
sustainability of the LGU’s programs.
One of LGU’s usual programs is its support to education, usually channeled through the
Special Education Fund (SEF). LGUs generally observe the law and several
guidelines in its SEF spending. LGUs made use of the SEF in coordination with
DepEd through the local school board. In general, LGUs provide little support to early
grade education (EGE). LGU’s attitude of relatively lesser support toward EGE is
brought about by the issued guidelines on SEF spending, as well as the notion that
EGE is already the concern of DepEd. Looking deeper into the EGE’s concern leads
to its implementation of the mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE).
Bicolano linguists and DepEd teachers, principals, supervisors, and superintendents
related many concerns and challenges on its implementation, such as Bikol language
contextualization of learning materials (LMs), orthography and standardization effort, Bikol
language nuances on LM development, and the status of early grade literacy,
numeracy, and socio-emotional learning including the ongoing interventions that
LGUs and each level of the Region’s DepEd administration and personnel have done.
The Region’s education sectors’ stakeholders operate at the school and community
levels and at different magnitudes and frequencies. Those closest to the learners
were the most frequent supporters, but those with a vision focused on education
made a dent through a more tangible and lasting contribution. Stakeholders’
engagements with schools were initiated mainly by these types of organizations,
2
A POLITICAL ECONOMY ANALYSIS OF THE BICOL REGION
which offer potential future partnerships. Too much bureaucracy and the presence of
conflict and disagreements are major turnoffs and disincentives that limit
stakeholders’ engagement. These results led to the study’s recommendations:
1. tap the support of LGU with high concentration in the industries of tourism,
agriculture and fisheries, and mining;
2. re-inform the local school boards (LSBs) of their governance and decision making
functions highlighting their power to enact changes and deliberate on creative
ways to maximize and make the SEF responsive to the current needs of the local
schools;
3. inform the LGUs of the multiplier effect of creating contextualized modules to the
cultural tourism industry of the region;
4. for DepEd to provide constant and continuous education sector updates delivery
to propel LGU’s sustained interest to the sector;
5. revisit the implementation of the MTB-MLE curriculum in terms of issues on early
exit and the role of orthography in instruction delivery;
6. deliver on-time, sufficient, and appropriate and resilient EGE materials ;
7. update language mapping at the barangay level;
8. make the Learning Resources (LR) portal user-friendly; and
9. re-orient parents of the purpose of MTB-MLE;
10. harness the broad stakeholder base and engage them.
3
A POLITICAL ECONOMY ANALYSIS OF THE BICOL REGION
Title of Project
ABC+ Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines: A
Political Economy Analysis of the Bicol Region
The objectives of the project
The study aims to provide a political-economic context of
Region V at three levels: regional level, education sector,
and stakeholder mapping. Specifically, it aims to:
1. Understand the overall political-economic context of
the region in general, and concerning early grade
education;
2. Understand the political economy in the basic
education focused on early grade literacy and
numeracy; and
3. Illustrate the status of network support specific to
Kindergarten to Grade 3 with particular emphasis on
key decision-makers and actors and their scope of
influence and behavior towards the achievement of
ABC+ project objectives.
Grantee
Ateneo de Naga University—Ateneo Social Science
Research Center
Grant Period
March 9, 2020, to August 24, 2020, with an extension
until October 2020
4
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
0
INTRODUCTION
Republic Act No. 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of
2013 directs the DepEd to adhere to the principles and framework of
MTB-MLE in the curriculum development of kindergarten
and Grades 1 to 3 (DepEd, 2020 February). DepEd had earlier
institutionalized MTB-MLE through its Order 74 series of 2009.
This curricular enhancement resulted from DepEd’s recognition
of various local and international research on children being able
to learn faster in their first language, which can be the base for
them to learn additional languages more easily (ACDP 2014;
Educo 2018; Llaneta 2018). Children also acquire other academic
competencies more quickly and develop appropriate cognitive and
reasoning skills.
In the initial stage of implementation of MTB-MLE in the 2012–13
school year (SY), eight major languages, including Bicol, were
offered as a learning area for its utilization as a language of
instruction (LOI) (DepEd 2012). However, the Bicol Region is one of
the most diverse languages areas in the country with four main
branches, 12 dialects, and 22 area variants (Lobel & Tria 2000).
The official LOI has not encompassed many of the language
variants spoken in the region. With this perspective, the Bicol
Region was selected as one of the areas for the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported ABC+
Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines project, which aims
to support DepEd in improving basic life skills for children in the
early grades in this linguistically diverse region.
The Political Economy Analysis of the Bicol Region hopes to
provide The Asia Foundation with an understanding of the overall
political-economic context of the region. This aimed to identify
entry points at the regional scale for the project, provide a
5
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
deeper analysis of the region’s early grade basic education focused on literacy and
numeracy, and illustrate the status of network support specific to Kindergarten to
Grade 3 with emphasis on key decision-makers and actors, the scope of influence, and
their behavior towards the achievement of the ABC+ project objectives.
Methodology
This qualitative study used document review, SSIs, and FGDs to collect data.
Sampling was mainly purposive. The interviews were mostly conducted in Filipino.
Sampling Design
The subgroup sampling design was used to compare different sub-groups in terms of
municipal class and dialect. The stratification by municipal class hoped to segment
LGUs based on their financial capacity and the extent or narrowness of its networks,
while the stratification by language hoped to depict the availability of mother-tongue
based materials as well as strengths and weakness of its use as a medium of
instruction.
A matrix of all municipalities in the Bicol Region, their respective income class,
and their language was created. From this list, purposive samples were selected of
municipality per income class for each province and all 12 languages for the region.
For two or more municipalities with the same municipal and language profile, a
random sample was drawn. Replacements of original target LGUs were based on the
municipal class.
The schools were identified by randomly drawing a barangay (district) from the
sampled municipality. A random sample was also drawn from the list of all public
primary and elementary schools in the barangay . The principal/school head and
teacher came from the sampled school. Teachers from each level (Kindergarten to
Grade 3) and subject (numeracy and literacy) were sought. However, some target
respondents were unavailable or unresponsive mainly due to their duties related to the
global health situation. Replacements in the education sector were taken from
the nearby municipality with similar income classes based on the recommendation of
public school district supervisors.
The parent-teacher association (PTA) President or his/her representative was
targeted by school division and would come from any of the identified schools
recommended by the principal, school head, or teacher. The PTA President has to
have a child enrolled in Kindergarten to Grade 3. Unavailable PTA presidents
6
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
were replaced by other officers or another school’s representatives based on the
recommendation of the principal or the teacher.
Data Collection
A document review, SSIs, and FGDs were utilized to collect data. The document
review provided data that described the socio-economic context of the region and the
project, programs, and activities of the LGU supporting the education of Kindergarten to
Grade 3 pupils. FGDs and SSIs were conducted to gain perspective from the
education sector, stakeholders, and provincial and municipal LGUs.
A total of 168 interviews were planned for the study. These should have included the
Regional Director of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and
DepEd, who hoped to serve as key informants for this study. Ninety-six interviews
were to be conducted with the governor, mayor or MPDO, and LSB head or member to
capture regional context, and 70 interviews were planned with the principal,
teacher, PTA president, and DepEd superintendent to capture the education context. Six
FGDs were planned with stakeholders for stakeholder mapping.
Due to the global pandemic and forced home/locality quarantine in most of the
data collection period, the data collection procedure was revised from face-to-face
interviews to phone interviews conducted from May 4, 2020, to August 17, 2020.
Several target respondents were not reached mainly due to the study’s timing, which falls
when respondents are engaged with their primary work to resolve community/
sectoral issues caused by the pandemic. Although the research team tried to replace
interview areas, the number of respondents fell from 168 to 130. The provinces and
the sectors of the respondents are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Number of Completed Interviews per Respondent Type
REGIONAL CONTEXT (SSI)
PROVINCE/
CITY
7
EDUCATION (SSI)
PRINCIPAL/
SCHOOL
HEAD
SDS/ EPS/
PTA
PSDS/
TEACHER
PRESIDENT ASST.
PSDS
GOVERNOR/
MAYOR
PPDO/
MPDO
CSB/
MSB
Albay
2
1
-
1
1
1
2
Camarines
Norte
1
3
2
4
3
-
2
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
REGIONAL CONTEXT (SSI)
EDUCATION (SSI)
PTA
TEACHER
PRESIDENT
SDS/ EPS/
PSDS/
ASST.
PSDS
5
2
-
2
3
4
4
1
1
2
3
1
1
-
1
-
4
2
4
2
1
2
Sorsogon
2
6
3
5
5
2
-
TOTAL
11
20
14
24
19
5
10
PROVINCE/
CITY
GOVERNOR/
MAYOR
PPDO/
MPDO
CSB/
MSB
Camarines
Sur
1
1
1
Rinconada
Areas
2
3
Catanduanes
3
Masbate
PRINCIPAL/
SCHOOL
HEAD
This study has a total of 31 municipalities and three cities. The lists of the sampled
areas and their respective income classes are presented in Table 2.
Table 2. List of Sampled Municipalities According to Income Classification
1ST CLASS
8
2ND CLASS
3RD CLASS
4TH CLASS
5TH CLASS
Aroroy
Bula
Baao
Balud
Batuan
Buhi
Caramoan
(Principal)
Caramoran
Casiguran
Bombon
Daet
(Capital)
Cataingan
Castilla
Iriga City
Prieto Diaz
Pilar
Goa (Principal)
Santa Elena
Manito
San Lorenzo
Ruiz
Polangui
(PTA)
Irosin
Tigaon
Pandan
San Miguel
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
1ST CLASS
Virac
(Capital)
2ND CLASS
Jose
Panganiban
3RD CLASS
4TH CLASS
Uson
Talisay
5TH CLASS
San Vicente
Legazpi City
Santa
Magdalena
Naga City (EPS)
Luzon
Placer
Mindanao
Meanwhile, the online FGDs were conducted from August 19 to September 3, 2020
(Table 3). These were participated by representatives from various sectors such as
NGOs (with 13 representatives), businesses (5), civic organizations (4), churchbased organizations (5), and professional organizations (1).
Table 3. FGD Schedule and Its Respective Number of Participants
SESSION
NUMBER
9
FGD DATE
MALE
TOTAL
FEMALE
1
August 19, 2020
3
5
8
2
August 21, 2020 *
0
1
1
3
August 28, 2020
2
4
6
4
September 1, 2020
3
2
5
5
September 2, 2020
2
1
3
6
September 3, 2020
0
3
3
TOTAL
*
NUMBER OF FGD PARTICIPANTS
27
This FGD was supposed to be attended by three participants; however, two backed out on the day of the FGD.
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Data Analysis
Data were analyzed using the factors outlined in the USAID’s Applied Political
Economy Analysis Field Guide, with a focus on foundational factors, rules of the
game, and the here and now. This analytical methodology applies to three sections of
the report—regional level, education sector, and stakeholders’ mapping. The
following explains each category and describes the study’s approach.
Foundational factors are those conditions that can change slowly. At the regional
level, these factors refer to geography, socio-demographic, economic profile, political
profile, priorities of the region, and LGUs’ capacity and level of support in improving
the education sector.
Rules of the game refer to formal and informal institutions that shape the region’s
interactions and relations. This level of analysis focuses on the scope of influence and
capabilities of LGUs, the relationship and decision making of political leaders, and the
linkages of the government units at the national, regional, provincial, and municipal
levels.
The here and now discusses the importance of recent events in the region and how
these affect constraints and opportunities in improving early grade education.
In the education sector, foundational factors describe the sector’s early grade
education and its position in the overall agenda of the region. Rules of the game
include the importance of mother tongue, its effectiveness on child learning, and
challenges encountered. The here and now discuss how important recent events,
including Covid-19, affect the opportunities and constraints on early grade education and
the prospects of USAID support through the TAF.
The foundational factors of stakeholders’ mapping include a description of key
stakeholders present in the region, their capacity and influence, and their support
to the education sector. Rules of the game outline how stakeholder engagement is
formed, what turns them off, and their limitations. The here and now describe how
they can be motivated to invest in basic education and avenues for engaging them.
10
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
02
BICOL REGION’S
POLITICAL ECONOMY
Geography and Socio-Demographic Profile
Bicol Region lies at 11030’ to 14020’ north latitude and
122020’ to 124030’ east latitude or the midsection of the
Philippines (NEDA-Region V n.d.). It is a peninsula in the
southeastern part of Luzon and has a total land area of
18,114 square kilometers, comprising 6% of the Philippine
land area. It is bounded on the north by Lamon Bay, the
Pacific Ocean on the east, and the Sibuyan Sea and Ragay
Gulf on the west. The northernmost province, Camarines
Norte, is bordered on the north by the Province of Quezon,
which connects the region to the rest of Luzon.
The Region has six provinces—Albay, Camarines Norte,
Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon.
Camarines Sur is the largest province in the region, with
5,266.8 square kilometers occupying about 29% of its total
land area. Catanduanes is the smallest, with 1,511.5 square
kilometers covering 8.3% of the total regional area.
The Region recorded a population of 5.8 million, which
accounted for about 5.7 percent of the Philippine population.
Camarines Sur also recorded as the region’s largest province in
terms of population with 1.95 million people, while
Catanduanes had the smallest population of 261 thousand
people (Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA] 2016).
11
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Bicol Region’s Competitiveness and Dominant Industries
The region has a few cities and municipalities classified as “competitive” in the
national Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) survey, including
Legazpi City, ranked in fourth place. Naga City ranked eighth among the most
competitive component cities. Tigaon ranked ninth among the 3rd and 6th class
municipalities of the country in 2019. The ranking was based on economic dynamism,
government efficiency, infrastructure, and resiliency. The Region’s top three
industries are tourism, agriculture, and fisheries, and mining.
Tourism
Tourism serves as a major growth driver in the region. Based on partial data from the
Department of Tourism, tourist arrivals reached 1.28 million in 2019, mostly domestic
tourists (86 percent). Legazpi City had the highest number of tourists during the year
at 576,600, accounting for 51 percent of total tourist arrivals. The holding of festivals,
national events, activities, and improvements to regional tourist destinations created
opportunities for increasing tourist arrivals and investments and potential avenues
for employment. The tourism industry has created jobs for more Bicolanos as more
tourism-related establishments operate (hotels and restaurants, resorts, wellness, and
eco-parks).
Tourism is one of the most affected industries in the Covid-19 pandemic. Following the
enhanced community quarantine declaration in Luzon on March 16, 2020, travel was
restricted, and domestic flights were canceled, which affected both foreign
and domestic tourist arrivals. This has affected at least 7 million direct and indirect
employees in the region’s tourism industry, including workers and owners of micro,
small, and medium enterprises (Mier-Manjares 2020).
Albay alone lost PHP0.5 billion during the first half of the year due to the
government-declared community quarantine (Serrano 2020).
Agriculture and Fisheries
Agriculture and fisheries provide employment to about 40 percent of Bicolanos,
especially in rural areas. It is also a major contributor to exports, particularly abaca,
coconut, and marine products. The manufacturing industry and the household
sector are dependent on the agriculture and fisheries industry for raw materials and
personal consumption.
12
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Despite being a major industry, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has recorded
a contraction in the production of palay and corn by 11.7% and 11.3%, respectively,
in 2019. The decline in production was brought about by the dry spell, which occurred
in the second quarter until the third quarter of 2019 that affected 28,177 hectares of
rice areas and 7,987 hectares of corn areas. The higher temperature also caused a
reduction in fisheries production by 7.8 percent in 2019. The hot weather condition also
reduced hog, chicken, and cattle production by a range of 0.31 percent to 5.78 percent.
Livestock and chicken production declined also due to higher prices of
animal feeds, antibiotics, and other production inputs.
Production of two major crops—coconut and abaca—increased by 5 percent and
0.44 percent, respectively, in the same year. The expansion in abaca production was
brought by the mass production of high-yielding and disease-free abaca suckers and
expansion of abaca areas in Sorsogon, utilization of specialized farm equipment, and
continued rehabilitation of typhoon-damaged abaca areas in Catanduanes.
Mining
In 2019, the Masbate Gold Project of Philippine Gold Processing & Refining
Corporation produced 6,291 kilograms of gold, 1.34 percent more than in 2018. Silver
production decreased by 4.11 percent to 4,533 kilograms, valued at PHP121.15
million. Metallic minerals reached a total value of PHP13.64 billion. The non-metallic
minerals produced are limestone and perlite weighing 52,506 metric tons and 8,736 metric
tons, respectively, with a total value of PHP8.17 million. Total taxes paid by
large scale mining companies, which comprised 99.32 percent of total taxes collected from
mining in the region increased by 15.34 percent to PHP2.47 billion in 2019.
To promote sustainable and responsible mining, the Minahang Bayan, or People’s
Small Scale Mining Area, was established in the provinces of Camarines Norte
and Masbate in 2018 (PH-EITI 2017) through the People’s Small-Scale Mining Act
(Republic Act [RA] 7076). This program drove some large-scale mines to close shop and
resulted in the “transfer of technology” from the mine employees to small-scale miners.
However, from 2017 to 2019, the number of small-scale mining sites in
Camarines Norte and Masbate declined.
Political Subdivisions and LGUs’ Fiscal Performance
The Region is politically subdivided into 16 congressional districts, seven cities, 107
municipalities, and 3,471 barangays. The cities are composed of one independent
component city, Naga City, and six component cities—Iriga, Legazpi, Ligao, Masbate
City, Sorsogon City, and Tabaco City (NEDA-Region V n.d.). The local government
13
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
units are further classified according to income class to be used as the basis for
fixing the maximum tax ceilings, for determining administrative and statutory aids,
financial grants, other forms of assistance, and for the implementation of salary laws and
the like, among others (Office of the President 1987).
An analysis of data produced by the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) on
LGUs’ regular income and internal revenue allotment (IRA)-dependency in 2009–18
shows the income class and the fiscal capacity of the Region’s municipalities (Table
4). The average annual regular income includes IRA, taxes, charges, which are
regularly collected and accrued to the general fund of the LGUs. In 2009–18, about a third
of the region’s municipalities (32.1%) were classified as first and second-income classes
and received an average annual income of 22% to 70% more than the
Region’s average income of PHP90.5 million. The majority (68.1%), however, were
classified among the third, fourth, and fifth-income classes whose average annual
income was between PHP45.1 million to PHP89.4 million, which was lower than
the average annual regular income of the region of PHP90.5 million. This is telling
of the low level of the financial capacity of most of the municipalities in the region as
well as their ability to finance their expenditures. Most municipalities classified at a
lower income category level have a lower IRA, uncompetitive salaries for officials and
personnel, and a low credit standing for availing loans.
Table 4 shows that the 4th and 5th-income-class municipalities were on average 93% to
96% IRA-dependent, above the 91% IRA-dependency average in the region and
86% in the Philippines in 2018.
Table 4. Average Annual Regular Income and IRA-Dependency of Bicol Region’s Municipalities by
Municipal Income Class, FY 2009–18
14
% OF
AVERAGE
BICOL
ANNUAL
REGULAR
INCOME
MUNICIPALITY'S
INCOME CLASS
AVERAGE
ANNUAL
% OF TOTAL
NUMBER OF
NUMBER OF
REGULAR
MUNICIPALITIES
MUNICIPALITIES INCOME ( PHP,
MILLIONS)
1
22
20.8
154.070
170.2
83
2
12
11.3
110.949
122.6
90
3
25
23.6
89.433
98.8
91
4
30
28.3
63.725
70.4
93
AVERAGE
% IRADEPENDENT
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
% OF
AVERAGE
BICOL
ANNUAL
REGULAR
INCOME
MUNICIPALITY'S
INCOME CLASS
AVERAGE
ANNUAL
% OF TOTAL
NUMBER OF
NUMBER OF
REGULAR
MUNICIPALITIES
MUNICIPALITIES INCOME ( PHP,
MILLIONS)
5
18
16.0
45.121
49.9
96
All
107
100.0
90.502
100.0
91
AVERAGE
% IRADEPENDENT
Table 5 further shows that municipalities whose above-average IRA-dependencies of 92–
94% were found in the provinces of Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, and Masbate.
Incidentally, Camarines Sur and Masbate were the provinces with the highestrecorded poverty incidence at 28.1% and 33%, respectively, in 2018. In the same
period, the Bicol Region’s poverty incidence was 26.8%, and 16.6% in the Philippines
(NEDA-Region V 2020).
Table 5. Average Annual Regular Income and IRA-Dependency of
Bicol Region’s Municipalities by Province, FY 2009–18
% OF
AVERAGE
BICOL
ANNUAL
REGULAR
INCOME
NUMBER OF
MUNICIPALITIES
% OF TOTAL
NUMBER OF
MUNICIPALITIES
Albay
15
14.0
114.250
126.2
84
Camarines
Norte
12
11.2
100.003
110.5
91
Camarines
Sur
35
32.7
87.672
96.9
92
Catanduanes
11
10.3
64.395
71.2
94
Masbate
20
18.7
88.073
97.3
92
Sorsogon
14
13.1
87.968
97.2
91
All
107
100.0
90.502
100.0
91
PROVINCE
15
AVERAGE
ANNUAL
REGULAR
INCOME
( PHP,
MILLIONS)
AVERAGE
% IRADEPENDENT
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Table 6 shows that Bicol’s contribution to the national government income was 2.3%,
as exhibited by the statement of income and expenditures of the LGUs in 2018. This
proportion was almost equivalently contributed by the three levels of LGUs in the
region. Among the local sources is the real property tax where SEF was taken. In
2018, SEF in all LGU levels of the region totaled PHP9.57 million. The Region took a 6%
share from the total distributed IRA of PHP418 billion in 2018. Bicol Region’s IRA
increased by 58.4% to PHP39.7 billion in 2020. The largest share of the Region’s
IRA allocation in 2020 is distributed to the municipalities (40.1%). The provinces get a
share of 25.5%, the cities 12.1%, and the barangays 22.3% (DBM 2019).
Table 6. Statement of Income by LGU Classification of the Bicol Region, Total
for the Philippines, and Percent Share, FY 2018 (PHP, millions)
PARTICULARS
BICOL REGION
PROVINCES
LOCAL SOURCES 1,570.50
CITIES
ALL
NATIONAL
1,860.62
1,731.77
5,162.88
227,619.11
30.4%
36.0%
33.5%
2.3%
100%
477.89
923.28
1,136.28
2,537.45
163,499.08
18.8%
36.4%
44.8%
1.6%
100%
296.62
315.16
344.92
956.69
64,473.97
31.0%
32.9%
36.1%
1.5%
100%
Tax on Business 161.13
549.02
725.82
1,435.97
88,938.76
Other Taxes
20.15
59.11
65.54
144.79
10,086.35
1,092.61
937.33
595.48
2,625.43
64,120.04
41.6%
35.7%
22.7%
4.1%
100%
4.41
182.16
130.28
316.85
14,612.74
% Share
TAX REVENUE
% Share
Real Property
Tax
% Share
NON-TAX
REVENUE
% Share
Regulatory Fees
(Permit and
Licenses)
16
MUNICIPALITIES
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
PARTICULARS
PROVINCES
MUNICIPALITIES
CITIES
ALL
NATIONAL
Service/User
683.03
Charges (Service
Income)
204.27
92.01
979.31
20,123.52
Income from
Economic
Enterprises
(Business
Income)
78.52
458.54
283.19
820.25
23,886.62
Other Receipts
(Other General
Income)
326.65
92.36
90.01
509.02
5,497.16
8,680.12
13,230.77
3,869.24
25,780.13
458,263.88
33.7%
51.3%
15.0%
5.6%
100%
8,296.63
12,916.54
3,847.10
25,060.27
418,165.33
33.1%
51.5%
15.4%
6.0%
100%
Other Shares
28.53
from National
Tax Collections
69.71
15.69
113.93
32,041.42
Inter-Local
Transfer
353.77
141.19
0.00
494.96
4,827.72
Extraordinary
Receipts/
Grants/
Donations/
Aids
1.19
103.33
6.46
110.98
3,229.41
10,250.62
15,091.39
5,601.01
30,943.02
685,883.00
EXTERNAL
SOURCES
% Share
Internal
Revenue
Allotment
% Share
TOTAL CURRENT
OPERATING
INCOME
17
BICOL REGION
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Priorities of the Region
The municipalities and provinces’ programs exhibited alignment with the regional
development plan for 2017–22 albeit incomprehensive, i.e., no specified programs
for all targeted areas by the region. These priorities are also consistent with the local chief
executives’ vision on economic development and good governance for their
respective municipalities. Topping municipalities’ programs is the one-stop-shop
daycare provision of social services (Table 7), particularly on increased investments in
health, nutrition, and education of children and youth.
Table 7. Top 3 Priority Programs of Sampled Municipalities and Provinces, 2020
PRIORITY
PROGRAMS
Provision of
Social Services
DETAILS
LGUS
Legazpi City, Manito, Daet, Jose
Panganiban, San Lorenzo Ruiz,
Buhi, Bula, Caramoran, Pandan,
Aroroy, Castilla, Pilar, Province of
Sorsogon, Sta. Magdalena
Education, health
Infrastructure
Development
Farm to market road
construction and
repairs, disaster-resilient
infrastructure, tourism
sites, seaport, water
system, LGU complex,
public market, barangay
centers
Livelihood and
Employment
SME support, enhancement of
Legazpi City, Bula, Pandan, Aroroy,
farmers and fisherfolks,
Castilla
daycare livelihood
Legazpi City, Manito, San
Lorenzo Ruiz, Talisay, Buhi, Bula,
Caramoan, Pandan, San Miguel,
Aroroy, Castilla, Pilar, Province of
Sorsogon, Sta. Magdalena
Health programs are more focused on the establishment of functional service
delivery, such as improvement of rural health units (RHUs) including the provision
of necessary equipment (such as ECG machines, x-ray, and ambulances), meeting
the need for doctors, improving provincial hospital services, and strengthening
health programs, particularly against dengue and typhoid fever. On the other hand,
18
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
education focuses on strengthening early childhood care, developing programs
(such as reading enhancement), tracking learners and school-age children, and
expanding access to higher education as targeted by the regional planners. Most
LGUs prioritized the needs of the daycare centers, such as the purchase of lots/land,
standardization of daycare centers, and the provision of outdoor play areas, audiovisual learning materials, and supplemental feeding and vitamins.
Programs for basic education include the provision of physical infrastructure (such
as school buildings, classrooms, repairs, IT equipment, and beautification); providing
children access to education through transportation services, ensuring school
attendance, and providing school supplies; ensuring adequate nutrition for children
through the municipal nutrition program; and establishing special education (SPED)
classes. Programs for higher education are centered on scholarships, aid to colleges
and universities, and the establishment of community colleges.
The second topmost LGUs’ priority program, infrastructure development, aligns with
the national government’s centerpiece program. Most infrastructure projects include
road and bridge construction and repairs to improve connectivity among barangays,
farms to markets, upland and coastal barangays with the town center, and lower
transportation costs. A number of the projects are dedicated to economic
infrastructure, a response to the regional strategy of the continued expansion of
convergence programs on tourism, agriculture, and industry. These projects include
agriculture-support and post-harvest facilities, slaughterhouses, municipal markets,
terminals, social infrastructure such as water systems, electrification including street
lighting, daycare centers, and parks; and vulnerability reduction, such as disasterresilient infrastructure including the PHP2 billion valued flood control-pumping station in
Legazpi City which is said to be the best flood control system in the Philippines; and
tourism site development like the bamboo eco-tourism site in Bula, Camarines Sur,
known as the bamboo village of the south. Bula’s project hopes to integrate agricultural
and ecological development alongside boosting tourism, livelihood, and employment
opportunities.
The third top programmed projects are on livelihoods and employment centered
on providing farm and fishing implements to farmers and fishermen, especially for
highly agricultural-based areas (Pilar). Cottage industries are also reliant on the
main agricultural products, like woven agas (seagrass) in Pilar, Sorsogon. Livelihood
projects also centered on support to SMEs through the Department of Trade and
Industry.
19
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Other scheduled projects in the region include ensuring efficient governance through
International Standardization Office certification and rationalization and right-sizing
of personnel (Pilar, Province of Sorsogon), putting up of Tabang Center (Castilla) and onestop-shop (Pilar), Philippine National Police (PNP) support (Tigaon), full sectoral
participation in development council (Buhi, Pilar), and updating of comprehensive
land use, zoning, executive-legislative agenda, and peace and order plans (Aroroy, Buhi,
San Lorenzo Ruiz). Programs on youth and sports development (Castilla) and
environmental protection (Castilla) through solid waste management (San Lorenzo Ruiz,
Tigaon), planting, and gardening (Tigaon) are also among the identified
priorities.
LGU Dynamics
Local government unit (LGU) dynamics pertain to the LGU key players’ interplay, and the
LGU’s existing structures, processes, and relationships. The city and municipal
LGUs operate based on development plans, of which priorities are expected to be
aligned with the provincial, regional, and national government (Aroroy, Bula,
Casiguran, Pandan). The DILG defines alignment as “not in conflict or neutral with
at the minimum and compatible, supportive, and complementary at the desired level
(DILG 2017). In crafting their plans, LGUs are guided by their respective province’s
Provincial Development Physical Framework Plan (PDPFP), which is supposed to
be anchored on the regional development plan and subsequently anchored on the
medium-term Philippine national development plan, currently covering the period
from 2017 to 2022 (NEDA-Region V, personal communication, August 27, 2020).
In general, these plans are further anchored on the long-term vision of the country
called AmBisyon Natin 2040 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on which
the Philippines, along with 192 other United Nations (UN) member states,
committed to attaining its 169 targets by 2030 (United Nations n.d.).
Municipalities’ programs and priorities are said to be aligned with the province if
it is pursuing similar economic priorities. For instance, Manito’s program on food
sufficiency in agriculture, the creation of a tourism hub, and road accessibility are
in line with the Province of Albay’s priorities. They call for the provision of social
services, such as learning-conducive facilities and updated equipment for education,
upgrading of daycare centers, and professional development of barangay health
workers. Cost-sharing is also a form of alignment; for instance, in Daet and Jose
Panganiban, all levels of government—province, municipality, and the barangay—
share the cost of the honorarium of the daycare workers. Similar cost-sharing of
the honorarium for Alternative Learning System (ALS) coordinators also occurs in
20
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Bula. Bula LGU also cost-shared in several provincial government projects, such as
barangay road projects under the Conditional Matching Grant for Provinces
(CMGP) and barangay facilities, multipurpose buildings, and covered courts. The
CMGP, formerly the KALSADA program during the Aquino administration, is a
partnership between the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for provincial LGUs in response to
the need for infrastructure support, as well as reforms in local roads management and
public financial management.
The key to the province-municipality alignment of programs is clear communication by
the province to the municipalities through regular conferences (Sorsogon),
allowing municipalities to plan their support to the provincial government. This is
lacking in municipalities where political differences prevail over service to
constituents.
The disconnection of municipal programs and priorities with the provincial
government is mainly attributed to the leaders’ political differences observed in
Buhi, Caramoran, and Jose Panganiban. The provincial government does not
provide the PDPFP where municipalities can use the priority areas of the provincial
government as a reference. The provincial LGU does not comment on the submitted
Comprehensive Development Plan, Executive-Legislative Agenda, or the Zoning
Ordinance. According to the DILG-mandated process, these documents should have
been reviewed by the Provincial Development Council (DILG 2017). In the case of
Caramoran, the provincial board member is the spouse of the defeated candidate for
the mayoralty post in the 2019 election. This political difference caused the
intentional delays of disapproval of submitted municipal resolutions and the noninclusion of Caramoran as KALAHI-CIDSS recipient.
These political differences frustrate the municipal development planners because
they are caught in the middle. Being uninvited in the provincial meetings, they are
restrained from knowing provincial government plans and undertakings.
A significant change in LGU processes was the removal of the bottom-up budgeting
(BuB) in 2017 (Cruz, September 2016). With the BuB out of the picture, avenues
for civil society organization (CSO) participation dwindled (Aroroy). Because of this
change in the planning system, it took two years before the national plan was rolled out
to the municipality (Cataingan). Municipal Local Government Units (MLGUs)
are provided with road projects and other allowed construction projects through
the Local Government Support Fund-Assistance to Municipalities, which started in
2017. Such projects are submitted by the MLGUs through the Local Development
21
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Investment Programs and provided allocations in the General Appropriations Act.
These construction projects have to be certified by the Department of Public Works
and Highways (DPWH). This requirement sometimes creates coordination issues
between the said national agency and the MLGU on identifying road projects. The
Municipality of Bula twice experienced being bypassed by DPWH. Initially, MLGU felt that
its freedom to decide and act for its constituents was undermined when DPWH
insisted on pursuing a road project based on its appraisal different from the one they
identified. The project resulted in a mismatch of identified beneficiaries. However,
the second time DPWH insisted on a road project on its validated area, the MLGU had
to negotiate with the Office of the Presidential Advisory for Peace Process
(OPAPP) because the identified road project was an intervention under the PAyapa
at MAsaganang PamayaNAn (PAMANA) Program. The MLGU-identified area, which
DPWH would not allow, led to a conflict area. Only when the OPAPP intervened did
DPWH agree to pursue the project in the MLGU-identified area.
Whether the LGU’s priorities are aligned with the provincial government, revenue
generation and fund sourcing have been a challenge in pushing for the priority
agenda especially to third, fourth, and fifth-class municipalities (Jose Panganiban,
Manito, Pandan). They cannot increase the LGU’s funds because some loan
requirements, such as updating of revenue code and other legislative measures, were not
observed by the Municipal Council (Manito). These LGUs are pressed to select
programs to prioritize when mid-year funds become available. These municipalities could
not also assist the barangay in their development projects. Fortunately, they are funded
by national agencies from time to time (Jose Panganiban). Recently, the
MGLU’s programs and projects have to be re-programmed and re-aligned to observe the
directives of the national Covid-19 Inter-Agency Task Force (Castilla, Daet).
Leadership change and decision-making
Government leadership change in the Philippine occurs in two ways: election and
appointment. At the national level, the election of president and vice-president occurs
every six years, and both serve for a maximum of six years. Members of the senate
also served for six years; however, half of the senate members may be replaced in
the mid-term election. Congressman, mayor, municipal councilors, barangay
captains, and barangay councilors, once elected, can serve for one term (three
years), and are allowed to serve for a total of three consecutive terms (except for
senators who may serve for only two consecutive terms). Congressmen, senators, and
barangay captains may be re-elected. Officials of line agencies are appointed.
22
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
In Philippine politics, development priorities change when there is a newly elected
leader, except when the new leader is closely related to the past LGU head (Pilar).
An example of this was when Salceda was no longer governor; the recognition of
outstanding principals, teachers, students, and LGUs also ended (Albay). However,
despite these differences in program implementation, the thrust for development is still
there. For instance, while there is a lesser budget allocated for the construction of school
buildings, there are certain programs that can still be pursued that are
congruent to the development of the children (Legazpi). Moreover, when a program has
already been approved, the next set of leaders would have to pursue it (Castilla, Legazpi,
Pilar). A case in point was the continuous operation of the Provincial
Education Department of Albay (PED) that was created during the time of Salceda
(Albay). Programs are also continued if the previous local chief executive is closely
related to the newly elected Local Chief Executive (Pilar). Still, a different political party
affiliation may also mean that some programs might receive a lower budget
allocation or might not receive funding at all (Caramoran, Daet, Tigaon). This
happens mostly at the municipal level.
The governor lobbies priority programs with the national government. However, the
MLGU program might not be supported by the governor if it is not in line with the
governor’s (Pandan). When the MLGU is not assured of support from the province, it
must make do with its budget (Tigaon) or find other means to deliver (Daet), as the
MLGU is subject to the priorities of the Provincial Local Government Unit). As one
respondent said, “You will definitely ask for assistance. If you do not get a positive
response, you have to reach out to other agencies. You cannot just depend on
the support of these agencies. You have to move on, find a way to deliver to your
constituents” (Virac).
Another general observation is that new leadership leads to staffing changes,
especially if the new leader’s political party is different from those of the LGU staff
(Daet). While there are exemptions to this, such practices are observed even at
the barangay level (San Lorenzo Ruiz). A respondent noted that new staff requires
technical training, which could last for roughly three months (San Lorenzo Ruiz).
Replacing staff means spending time and money.
In the case of DepEd, changes in administration are constant. But because policies
come from the central office, and the overall goal is education, a respondent noted
that the difference only lies in the administrator’s creativity in implementing programs
effectively. One problem regarding a change of school administrator occurred when a
former principal does not leave any documents. As such, the new principal does not know
what happened in the previous administration (Sta. Elena).
23
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Sustaining programs, projects, and activities (PPAs) amid changes in leadership and
development priorities is a continuing challenge to political and administrative units.
The tendency to suspend existing PPAs, including good ones, still prevails. While the
NEDA V region and the LGUs are guided by the long-term vision of
AmBisyon Natin 2040 and the SDGs, these are translated into six-year medium-term and
comprehensive development plans bound by the term of office of the political
administration. However, inclusive growth and significant development cannot be
fully achieved in such a short time. Adaptable units can only take the opportunity
of a leadership change to assess the gaps and challenges in implementing PPAs
of the previous administration and address these during the time of the incumbent
administration.
Important events that affected the region
Several natural phenomena and man-made events affected the performance of the
region economically. In 2015, a strong typhoon (Nona or TS Melor) made landfall in
Sorsogon in the Bicol Region and moved to Burias Island in Masbate. El Niño, an
atypical weather pattern caused by the warming of the Pacific Ocean that affects
currents, decreased Bicol’s palay (unhusked rice) yield from 3.82 to 3.69 metric
tons per hectare. Damage caused by Nona in all sectors was estimated at PHP2.4
billion. Nona’s effects were felt until the latter part of 2016, when the agriculture,
hunting, fisheries, and forestry sector registered a negative 0.2 percent growth.
The Department of Agriculture implemented several programs that mitigated the
disastrous impact of the typhoons and El Niño. These included the deployment
of harvesters for immediate harvesting before the typhoon, implementation of
projects under the action plan Roadmap to Address the Impact of El Niño, the shift
of irrigation projects from large-scale to small-scale (such as the provision of pump
irrigation and small farm reservoirs), and subsidies of insurance coverage to about
30,000 farmers, which provided security on their investments.
From 2016 to 2019, Bicol Region was not spared from typhoons (TY), tropical
depressions (TD), and tropical storms (TS). The frequent occurrence of tropical
cyclones and volcanic eruptions, such as Bulusan in 2017 and Mayon in 2018
and 2019, disrupted the socio-economic activities of the Bicolanos resulting in a
slowdown of the regional economy and negatively affecting the socio-economic
condition of communities. These natural calamities caused moderate to severe
damage to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, housing, physical infrastructure, and the
livelihoods of many Bicolanos.
24
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Opportunities and constraints of LGU support to education
Another factor contributing to LGU dynamics is the interplay of MLGU’s budget and the
term of office of elected local officials. The municipal budget is bound by the
mandated allocation for personnel services, the community development fund, child
protection, and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM), which means
66% of the municipal budget is already obligated. On the other hand, elected officials
have only three years to push for their priority projects promised during election
campaigns. The list of desired projects is narrowed down by these factors, even
though MLGU priorities are affected by the change of its leadership despite this list of
priorities being documented in the municipal comprehensive development plan. With
lesser room to access funding, MLGUs appreciate any downloaded projects (Buhi,
Bula).
Political clout and coalitions are ambiguous when it comes to project support from
the bureaucracies of the sampled respondents. Some MLGUs experienced a lack of
support even when the governor and the mayor come from the same political party
(Aroroy). Other local chief executives felt left out due to political differences with their
superiors (San Miguel), while others felt that political differences might not matter in
accessing funds.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the ABC+ project opened up opportunities for the
municipal local chief executive to examine the EGE situation and its needs
and determine the possible MLGU contributions for its improvement (Buhi).
Conventionally, the SEF is allocated to the schools’ sports activities in the
municipality, and EGE has never been the topic of concern of LSBs.
LGUs strategizing to get more funds
MLGUs recognize that the budget is lacking relative to planned projects for the
community (Daet). This makes the project prioritization a challenge. To accommodate
each sector’s proposed projects, MLGUs must prioritize matters that are urgent
considering the magnitude of the beneficiary (Daet) or implement the projects in
phases (Bula). However, not all projects can be implemented in a staggered manner;
some projects need proper timing, especially in agriculture. Inflation is another
consideration; once the timing of the project meets up with inflationary pressure, the full
worth of the project can no longer be utilized (Bula).
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
LGUs’ support for education
MLGUs have many priorities of their own and have not examined DepEd’s needs in
detail. Fifth- class municipalities, in particular, admitted that being IRA-dependent,
their focus is more on the LGU’s direct concerns. It is a common understanding
among the MLGUs that DepEd has its own budget for personnel, learning materials,
and facilities needed by the education sector. The LGUs provide supplementary
funding support to basic public education through the Special Education Fund
(SEF), which comes from an additional one percent tax on real property that LGUs
are mandated to impose and collect under Republic Act 7160, also known as the
Local Government Code of 1991 (Manasan, Celestino, & Cuenca 2011). SEF
support is further limited by the provisions stated in the revised guidelines on the
use of the SEF issued in 2017.
Data show that LGUs subscribe to this policy. SEF is used for the supplemental
budget for the improvement of school facilities. These include WASH in Schools
(WinS) facilities, which address water, sanitation, and hygiene (Bula, Caramoran,
Legazpi, San Miguel); the purchase of equipment such as photocopying machines;
and ICT support, including internet connections and desktop computers, printers,
and other necessary equipment (San Miguel) which are mostly in response to the
education sectors’ needs arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The second-highest SEF expense is for sports development activities, such as
zone, district, cluster, and provincial meets, as well as the Palarong Bicol (athletic event
in the Philippines). Maintenance and repairs of school buildings and facilities like
painting, beautification, and payment for school utilities were allocated equal
subsidies to be released depending on existing school needs (Castilla, San Miguel).
SEF also funded the purchase of supplemental books, printing, and reproduction
of instructional and learning materials. The SEF also allocated funds for the needs
of the pre-school education run by the Municipal Social Welfare and Development
Office (MSWDO), which is subordinate to the MLGU, as provided by RA No. 10410 or
the Early Years Act of 2013.
Before the Local Government Support Fund-Assistance to Municipalities (LGSFAM) was established, LGUs were open to providing support, provided that requests
were articulated (Buhi, San Miguel). For example, the MLGU realigned its budget
allocation when urgent needs required funding. A case in point is the budget
provision outside of the SEF budget to improve a constantly-flooded playground in
a school in San Miguel, Catanduanes.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Since 2017, LGUs’ support for education has been limited by the current
provisions of LGSF-AM. Projects in this national assistance to LGUs explicitly
exclude sports equipment, school buildings, and other public elementary and
secondary facilities, including repairs and maintenance.
Recently, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, LGUs were instructed to direct SEF
support for health needs related to the pandemic, such as the purchase of
alcohol and personal protective equipment for the teachers (Casiguran; Castilla). The
LSB of Casiguran became active in advocating for precautionary measures against
Covid-19 to protect children’s health and help teachers disseminate
information about the class schedules and the distribution of LMs. The mayor
of Polangui set up a local radio station within the municipality to respond to
the education sector’s need for a platform for remote blended learning (Albay
SDS). The recent Joint DepEd, Department of Budget and Management, and
Department of Interior Local Government Circular No. 1, s. 2017 on revised
guidelines on the use of SEF called for convening the local school board to
determine and allocate annual supplementary budgetary needs for the operation of
public schools for localized implementation of the basic education learning
continuity plan (BE-LCP).
The Bicol Region’s annual SEF of the municipalities in 2009–16 averaged PHP
0.430 million, which comprised only 19% of the national average for the same
period. It reflects the relatively lower capacity of the Region’s municipalities to
provide support to education. Figure 1 exhibits the average annual SEF of the
sampled municipalities from 2009 to 2016 arranged by income class (BLGF
n.d.). The figure highlights the names of municipalities with average annual SEF
exceeding the average for each specific class. The detailed list is found in Table
12. These data show the wide discrepancy of the capacity of the municipalities to
fund education through the SEF, which is determined by the municipality’s
capacity to earn revenues. For instance, sampled first-class municipalities
averaged PHP1.825 million, with Aroroy in Masbate. This municipality housed
one of the country’s biggest mining companies, having an SEF allocation as high as
PHP 7.98 million. This figure is higher by PHP2.56 million than the SEF of
fifth-class municipalities, on average.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Figure 1. Average SEF of Sampled Municipalities by Municipal Class, 2009–16 (PHP, millions)
The two sampled second-income class-cities, Naga and Legazpi, have the highest
average SEF in 2009–16 at PHP68.76 million and PHP36.99 million, respectively
(BLGF n.d.). In 2020, Legazpi City reported having a SEF of PHP70 million.
While the cities and municipalities’ SEF show a wide variation of financial figures,
expenditure types under the SEF do not show much distinction. Table 8 presents the top
ten programs and projects on SEF allocation by city and municipal classification.
Data show that whether the municipality is high-earning or low-earning, there is no
distinction in the choice of programs and projects that SEF funds. It further shows
that municipalities and cities’ SEF spending adhered to those prescribed by laws and
guidelines concerning the use of SEF, such as R. A. 5447, R. A. 10410, DepEd, DBM, and
DILG joint circular no.1 s. 2017 and 096 s. 2020.
The cities of Naga and Legazpi, however, have some unique SEF spending. Both
cities are classified as second-class cities and claimed to be regional education
centers. Each of these cities has allocated SEF funds for the strengthening of
literacy, numeracy, as well as science and technology. Naga City has implemented
these by developing the Division Local Heritage Matrix and the Division
Contextualized Competencies Matrix that will aid and facilitate teachers in enhancing their
contextualized instructional materials.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Table 8. Top 11 Programs and Projects Funded by the Local School Board by
City and Municipal Class, Selected Areas, Bicol Region, 2020
NUMBER OF CITIES AND MUNICIPALITIES BY CLASS
PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS
1ST
CLASS
2ND
CLASS
3RD
CLASS
4TH
CLASS
5TH
CLASS
Improvement of facilities 3
and purchase of equipment
3
3
3
1
Sports development
activities
3
4
1
2
3
Maintenance and repair of
school buildings and
facilities
3
3
2
2
2
Procurement of learning
materials
3
2
2
2
1
Purchase of supplies and
materials
3
2
2
-
3
ECCD program
1
3
1
1
2
Academic and non-academic contests, gatherings, and
students' training
3
1
1
2
Alternative Learning System
1
2
1
1
-
New construction of
buildings and facilities
2
-
-
-
2
Feeding/nutrition program
1
-
1
-
2
School and Teachers'
rewards and incentives &
teachers' training
1
3
-
1
-
Aside from the top SEF spending programs and projects, the selected cities and
municipalities also provided SEF for the honoraria of non-DepEd personnel, such as
Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) teaching assistants and teachers
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
of Madrasah subjects (Daet), college scholarship, research, special education, and
Brigada Eskwela (National Schools Maintenance Week).
LGU management of SEF
SEF budget allocation is usually discussed during an LSB meeting before December of a
fiscal year ends (San Miguel). It is expected that the agreed allocation would
start to be delivered in January of the following year. The efficient management of
SEF can be attributed to the dedication and commitment of the DepEd’s
representative. The Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) monitors schools’
supplemental budget requests to verify if there is no duplication of requests in
the respective school’s maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE). Its
inefficiency, on the other hand, can be attributed to the relatively fast rotation of
assignments of Schools Division Superintendents (SDS) or Public Schools District
Supervisors (PSDS) who sit in the LSB, as this leads to poor foresight of what
the schools need. It also limits SDS/PSDS immersion to the LGU, limiting their
conversations and expressions of the education sector’s need to the LGU (Buhi). It was
observed that being an outsider of the LGU, SDS and PSDS are not as forceful as
department heads in pushing for their agenda (Bula).
The Covid-19 pandemic delayed the processes of the LSB because both the LGU and
the education sector became preoccupied with addressing this issue (San
Miguel). It also provided opportunities to LGUs to realign the budget allocation of SEF
to purchase laptops for the students instead of repairs and maintenance of
classrooms (San Miguel). The SEF budget for sports development was realigned to
purchase an internet modem.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
03
BICOL REGION’S
PUBLIC BASIC
EDUCATION SECTOR
The dynamics of leadership and administration
in the Region’s education sector
At the level of DepEd, staff and administrators are hired
and appointed. The DepEd order no. 7 s. 1999 which was
amended by DepEd order no. 16 s. 2019, states that SDS
and ASDS have to be transferred or reassigned once after
every three years. The earlier order also states that SDSs
are in charge of the selection and appointment to positions of
district supervisors and principals once every five years. The
reassignment is being done to avoid “too much familiarity”
among personnel in a certain school or district that lead them to
complacency with their work [Albay SDS]. The movement
to another area by a public education leader is not, however,
strict in terms of term duration. This may be shortened or
extended depending on exceptional circumstances.
The reappointment apparently responds to the negative
feedback by the teachers to the education leader and rebuilds
the former’s morale and rejuvenates their energies with
the new leadership. Reappointment may disrupt operations
initially, particularly in the transition process, but the general
direction does not change because every personnel is guided by
the goal of quality education and the central office’s
guidelines [Bula Prin; Casiguran Prin; CN EPS; CN SDS; Iriga
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
SDS; Masbate EPS]. The difference lies in the leadership style [Sta. Elena Prin]. SDS
devised a creative way of proceeding with the implementation of existing programs
to make these more effective; nevertheless emphatically to avoid conflicts [Bula
Prin; Iriga Prin]. However, for others, a new PSDS means program modifications that
entail intensified work in terms of instructional monitoring [Prieto Diaz Prin]. When
principals are re-assigned, they just proceed with their work in the new school of
assignment.
The change of national leadership somehow affected the programs and projects of
the education sector [Naga EPS]. With nine education secretaries in 19 years
(2001-2020), where each has his/her own management style and priority programs
in perfecting the education sector [Masbate SDS], it would seem that the continuity
of programs was sacrificed and time and effort were wasted [Casiguran Prin]. Some
of these programs and projects were effective but were replaced or overshadowed
by the new ones, e.g., the 1999 Reading Education Training Program [Naga EPS].
On the positive side, some of the new programs and projects may be interventions to
long-standing challenges and could make education efficient and effective.
One significant change in early grade education is the institutionalization of the K to
12 program in 2012. All slated projects for K to 3 were stopped but it was,
hopefully, for the better as it meant standardization of the basic education curriculum
internationally [CS SDS].
At the local level, programs and projects are transitioned smoothly if the new
leadership supports the previous administration’s started projects [Castilla Prin;
Irosin Prin]. For instance, the school flood control project was conceptualized in the
previous administration but was carried out in the current administration in
Sogoy Elementary School in Castilla, Sorsogon. The feeding program as well as
the distribution of school supplies and slippers twice a year continued even with the
change of the MLGU leadership [Irosin Prin].
When local leadership changes, the education sector, or any sector for that matter,
extends courtesies to the new leader of the area of school operations to ensure
a smooth transition and continued support (Bula Prin). This coordination with the LGU
sector is where political motivation blends in. Solicitation of LGU support has
sometimes been difficult to obtain (Naga EPS), and the school heads have to be
persistent in following-up on these (Bula Prin). One principal felt that the support
provided by the LGU seems dependent on the number of votes that the incumbent
receives rather than on the actual need of the school. They remain flexible with the
new leadership and administration styles and craft creative ways to adapt to the
locality’s ongoing programs (Bula Prin, Naga EPS). The sociable and persistent
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
nature of most of the SDS and other administrators in the education sector effectively
links them to the LGU sector. For instance, Sto. Niño Elementary School won the
Best Brigada Eskwela implementer in the Medium Category at the District level in
2019 because the mayor had contributed PHP800 thousand of his own money to
build a Grade 1 classroom. A few inconveniences similar to other levels of LGU
occurred during changes in barangay LGU, but in general, barangay LGUs are
supportive.
Institutionalization of mother tongue as the medium of
instruction in K to 3
DepEd Order No. 74 s. 2009 institutionalized the use of the mother tongue (MT)
as the primary medium of instruction in Kindergarten through Grade 3. This move
was adopted by the House of Representatives when it passed the Republic Act No.
10533, or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, which directed the Department of
Education (DepEd) into law. In the initial stage of implementation of MTB-MLE
in SY 2012–13, eight major languages, including Bicol, were offered as a learning area
for its utilization as LOI. Currently, DepEd has produced teaching and learning
resources for 19 languages of the country, which covered almost 80% of the learners’
population (DepEd 2020).
At the onset of its implementation, there was an initial orientation and advocacy on MT
use, such as parents’ and other stakeholders’ orientation vis-à-vis advocacy on the K to
12 Basic Education Curriculum. Packages of training were also provided to teachers,
including curriculum development workshops at the regional level, local
training on curriculum orientation, and mass training of Kindergarten to Grade 3
teachers. Detailed lesson plans were also provided.
Language mapping was conducted, but different levels of the DepEd structure
perceived it differently. The process of determining MT is clear for those in the
administrative and supervisory levels of the DepEd structure, such as school division
superintendents and education program supervisors. The DepEd Regional Office
released a questionnaire on the dialects spoken, which was distributed to the schools
through the MT-MLE Coordinator (Albay EPS, Camarines Norte (CN) SDS, Masbate EPS,
Masbate SDS). The results were consolidated, with the greatest number
becoming the basis for the MT (Naga EPS, Camarines Sur (CS) SDS, Masbate SDS).
For instance, Tagalog is the Lingua Franca in Camarines Norte (CN EPS), Irigabased Bikol in Iriga (Iriga SDS), and Minasbate in Masbate (Masbate EPS).
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
The selected MT came from the mapping and interviews of parents conducted by the
teacher (CS SDS, Masbate SDS). The teacher asked parents to identify the child’s
dialect used at home (Naga EPS). The school division offices (SDOs) also conducted field
monitoring and verified the MT from the school head, teachers, and the
community (CN EPS). The database was lodged at the Planning and Research Office at
the Schools Division Office (Naga EPS). The DepEd Regional and Central Offices were
provided with the data.
The principals and teachers, however, were unsure of the process. Some teachers
remembered that the mapping was done only once at the start of MTB-MLE
implementation. In contrast, others reported that it was conducted in every enrollment
period through class advisers. Schools adopt one MT even if pupils speak several
variations. For instance, Bikol-Naga is the prescribed MT by the DepEd Regional
Office and Schools Division Offices (Pilar Principal, Prin; Tigaon Prin). Nevertheless,
schools were given leeway to modify depending on the Lingua Franca of the pupils
(Pilar Prin), as in the case of students in Pilar who speak various languages BikolLegazpi, Bikol-Pilar, Bikol-Daraga, and Miraya (a Visayan-sounding dialect). Teachers then
determine which MT is the most appropriate for their students (Pilar Prin).
The implementation of MTB-MLE created another uncertainty among the teachers
and principals. While the use of MT as a medium of instruction is reasonable for early
grade educators, making it a subject and including orthography (grammar) in the
curriculum are perceived as inappropriate for pupils. The inclusion of orthography in
teaching early grade pupils was only mentioned in Albay.
Worldviews on MT development
DepEd sees that using the vernacular in instruction helps learners learn Filipino and
English languages quicker and improves their cognitive and other lifelong skills faster
(DepEd 2009). Teaching primary grade (K to 3) in the MT is part of the perspective
that education should be learner-oriented and responsive to their cognitive and
cultural capacity as well as circumstances (DepEd 2019). The K to 12 curricula
espoused contextualization but must consider the demands of the national and global
communities. This last principle of K to 12, the MTB-MLE curriculum, and the choice
of English as the language of instruction in Grades 4 to 12 supports the more popular
worldview of the need for proficiency in English to be globally competitive. English
proficiency was cited as a reason that made the Philippines the top voice outsourcing
destination globally in 2012, surpassing India (Cabigon 2015). Some government
agencies, including the Board of Investment, also believe that English proficiency
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
gives Filipino workers an edge over other countries’ migrant workers, leading to the
former’s relatively higher demand abroad (Hernandez 2015).
Despite the importance of using a native language to improve the cognitive skills of
learners, there remains hesitation among some parents because the use of MT is
deemed “backward.” Rosero, linguist and author of “An Garamiton na Ortograpiya,”
noted that this comes from the general Filipino belief that Filipinos must learn
to speak and use English to be globally competitive (personal communication,
September 2020). He said that while learners use proper pronunciation and diction,
English speaking skills remain superficial because of poor comprehension. This
is commonly observed among senior high school students. Rosero explained that
comprehension and critical thinking skills should be developed at a young age, and
using MT allows learners to master this skill because this is the language they use at
home or in the market rather than English.
Aside from improving cognitive skills, Nierva, a Bicolano linguist, believes that
learning the mother tongue can contribute to the region’s overall development
(personal communication, August 2020). For him, MT is a pathway for the Bicolano
youth to be grounded with their own identity, culture, and heritage, which can be
a springboard for becoming globally competitive. Using MT nurtures the learners’
deeper appreciation of their language, leading them to a deeper understanding of
the world and opening the door to other languages and cultures. This is because
of a language’s characteristic as an agent of empowerment. Nierva explained that
globalization is not so much related to which language is used but rather to the
inhabitants’ worldview and their capacity to broaden their perspectives. Rosero
supported this by explaining that using MT allows speakers to become aware of
their language’s value—its importance as a tool of communication and not simply
a medium of instruction in the classroom. Nierva mentions international evidence
showing that using the vernacular is not a hindrance to a nation’s development,
such as in Japan, China, and Korea—rich countries that use their languages as their
official business language. Japan, in particular, whose children are wellversed in Japanese, is globally competitive, especially in electronics and robotics.
Japan has also initiated a pop culture, Anime, in Japanese, which became a
global phenomenon. Children and young adults globally embraced this Japanese
culture, translated into different languages of the receiving countries. Japan’s case
demonstrates that the use of the vernacular is not a hindrance to globalization.
Some parents expressed that using the vernacular is limiting, and for Nierva, this
viewpoint could be traced from the Filipinos’ nurtured parochial mentality due to
centuries of colonization. For Mr. Nierva, the use of one’s language need not end
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
with merely reading simple stories for the purpose of reading in the vernacular. There must
be ideation and enhancement of learning materials into higher levels of thinking based on
contemporary experiences for children to find LMs interesting, and, at the
same time, be able to initiate and participate in a discourse on current world issues.
Rosero elaborates on this by saying that teachers should develop contextualized
materials and not simply translate (personal communication, September 2020).
According to Rosero:
The context of small or big books has to be inspired by what exists in the
locality, for example, folklore or local stories. So the books should not have
stories about elevators or Ferris wheels if these are not something that the child
sees in his or her surroundings. Inspirations for stories could be about
utensils in the kitchen, about local fiestas, or the direction to someone’s home.
This means that there is a desire for quality materials. To create one, teacher
education has to advance in using MT in the discourse, ideation, and all forms of
arts. At present, teachers trained in early-child education are scarce and graduated
from higher education institutions when MTB-MLE was not yet a professional course.
Recognizing that teacher education has to adapt to the demands of RA 10533,
among others, the Commission on Higher Education issued the Commission on
Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order no. 74 s. 2017 prescribing the new
policies, standards, and guidelines for Bachelor of Elementary Education, which
include MTB-MLE as one of the major/specialization courses and elective/cognate
courses. However, most colleges and universities will start implementing the said
CHED order in the current school year 2020–21 as the schools were given three
years to comply with this new requirement. A Naga City university received the
recommended syllabus from the Research Center for Teacher Quality, a CHEDcommissioned institution for the curriculum revision of teacher education (Permale,
personal communication, August 19, 2020).
The level of Bikol language contextualization of LMs
Initially, the MTB-MLE was viewed as an unwelcome and drastic curriculum revision by
teachers and parents (Nierva, personal communication, August 2020). While
Bicolano teachers speak the Bikol language, they are not used to reading or
writing in Bikol. Bicolanos, in general, are accustomed to using the vernacular for
everyday conversation and not for academic purposes. It is a natural consequence that
this curriculum change placed an additional burden on teachers who need to
contextualize the materials.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
In the Bicol Region, DepEd commissioned linguists as consultants in MT material
development. In the initial evaluation of learning materials, linguists found that the
materials developed contained many factual errors that could not be resolved by
translation or contextualization. This was documented in DepEd’s Commission on
Audit Report in 2018, which highlighted various errors on Grade 3 learning materials that
cost more than PHP254 million. For example, in Araling Panlipunan, volcanology is
defined as “pag-aaral tungkol sa pagputok ng bulkan,” (the study of volcano
eruption), which is conceptually wrong. It is being proposed that the development of
local learning materials should not only be limited to contextualization only but involve
its whole production, including its idea concepts and contents.
In Albay the uploaded materials on MT in the DepEd LRMDS were mostly in Bicol
Naga, so the District under the Division of Albay conducted several workshop
sessions on contextualization of the materials to Bicol Daraga—North and South
districts (SDS Albay). The Division of Albay observed localization and allowed the
native teacher to use the dialect of his/her locality. Their contextualization efforts
include documenting 15 town songs as part of their Division Local Heritage Matrix.
However, they were only able to focus on a limited number of towns (SDS Albay).
Iriga took a year to produce a book in Bikol-Iriga, but it is still being validated for
quality assurance (Iriga SDS). However, time is of the essence; hence, they are
already using these books even if their quantity is still insufficient to cover all schools and
children.
Camarines Norte has the same instructional materials used as those from NCR and
Region 4A. This is because their province’s medium of instruction is more similar to
Tagalog than Bikol Sentral (CN EPS). However, the province has two major dialects—
Bikol and Tagalog—which differ from the Tagalog spoken in Manila. The dialects
are also changing even among the barangays in one municipality. In Bikol-speaking areas,
they are using Tagalog materials, but teachers and students converse in Bikol. Moreover,
because they are using the reference materials assigned for NCR and
Region 4A, the information in their Araling Panlipunan books are not appropriate for the
province (CN EPS).
Orthography development and standardization effort
The diversity of the Bikol language makes teaching MT complicated (Nierva, personal
communication, August 2020). Since the Bikol language is too diversified, it contains
language used further south, such as in Visayan in Masbate, and further north like
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Tagalog in Camarines Norte. Even within a municipality, language is diversified
among its barangays. For example, some barangays of Basud, Camarines Norte, or
Ragay, Camarines Sur speak in Tagalog while others speak in Bikol. Some barangays in
Pili, Camarines Sur, which is considered a Rinconada area, speak Bikol-Central.
For instance, “dog” is “ido” in Bikol Central and “ayam” in Rinconada (SDS, CS). In the
Rinconada area, Buhi has its own entirely different Bikol language. One could
ask how a native Rinconada teacher who migrates to Naga City by marriage teaches
using the standard Bikol. Buhinons recognized the uniqueness of their language
and took the initiative to develop learning materials through the efforts of the local
government and some private individuals.
With this perspective, a group of Bicolano linguists believes that the first phase of MT
development should be focused on the standardization of spelling, which has
been completed and which the ADNU Press has published. The standardized spelling
applies to any Bikol language. For example, it does not matter whether the word
“house” is written and spoken differently in three areas; for example, “harong” in
Central Bikol, “baloy” in Rinconada, and “balay” in Sorsogon—as long all Bicolanos
read it in the same way and understand its spelling, that is, to use “oy” in the last
syllable rather than “oi.” This is the contribution of orthography; it makes the spelling
of the Bikol language consistent. There will be little difference in the Iriga-Rinconada
words because these have the unique “schwa;” it is a matter of adding an accent
mark or double dots on top of the vowel to distinguish the pronunciation difference.
While spelling standardization is a good start in MT development, it does not ensure that
all Bicol writers are using the published book as a guide. For instance, how
the orthography being developed in Masbate will be factored in the call for spelling
standardization (a draft copy of the book, An Garamiton na Ortograpiya san Masbate
(Rosero & Balbuena n.d.) is available in academia). There are also disagreements in
Komisyon ng Wikang Pilipino on spelling standardization, but discussions continue.
Teachers and writers are encouraged to use the spelling guide, which is now an
official DepEd material. DepEd must appeal to a group of linguists and writers for the
adoption of the spelling guide and promote it assertively—not only within the
educational system, but more importantly, in the local mass media (print media in the
internet, blogs, newspapers, and magazines) to avoid confusion among child learners and
better aid them in the assimilation of the language.
Aside from using the spelling guide, Nierva also suggested the need for teachers’
training to understand the base lessons and philosophy of MT orthography, e.g., the
alphabets, the symbols for sounds; otherwise, there would be no deeper appreciation for
MT (personal communication, September 2020). In Albay, only Camalig has
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
developed an orthography (SDS Albay). The other districts do not have one yet.
There is also a need to collect literary pieces and an orthography based on sound
in a particular area (SDS Albay). Spellings are based on the sounds of words (SDS
Albay).
The challenge of Bikol language nuances on LM development
The next phase of MT development is focused on grammar for Bikol Sentral (Nierva,
personal communication, 2020 August) and standardization for Minasbate (Rosero,
personal communication, August 2020). The Bikol language is nuanced, and in many
cases, cannot utilize the rules of Western grammar in analyzing it. For instance,
English nouns become a verb in Bikol because the latter is verb- oriented rather than nounoriented. For example, there is no direct translation for the noun “translation.” In Bikol, it
becomes a verb, “ibikol” or “tagalugi.”
The study on Bikol grammar is another source of anxiety among teachers because
it is something new they must learn (they have been trained in Filipino and English
rather than in the Bicol language). Sample materials that could help can be found on the
Facebook page, MagBikol Kita, created by a Bicol linguist, Victor Nierva, a former
professor at the Ateneo de Naga University. The page contains short videos on Bikol
orthography and grammar as well as literary works. Another linguist, Jose Federico
Hernandez of the University of Diliman Linguistics Department, declared the need for
a continued sharpening of the study of the Bikol language to discover the richness of
its character, quality, and pureness that one cannot find in other languages (Nierva,
personal communication, August 2020). There is a risk of producing a half-baked
MTB education of the learners if further study is given up. These efforts show that MT
support outside education, such as linguists and material developers, must be
established and sustained because the education sector alone cannot do it.
DepEd must recognize that ECCD teachers specialize in facilitating child
development rather than language development. While there is a working
orthography for Minasbate, for example, there is no standard orthography, although
materials were pilot tested in 2018. In pilot testing, they found that Minasbate
has different dialects because of the influence of Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, and
the mainland Bikol provinces surrounding Masbate. For example, Cawayan and
Cataingan use Minasbate influenced by Cebuano; Mandaon and Balud use
Minasbate influenced by Hiligaynon; while in Ticao and Burias, it is influenced by Bikol
Sentral. Rosero said that before the First Minasbate Orthography Congress
organized by Dr. Emilio B. Espinosa, Sr. of the Memorial State College of Agriculture
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
and Technology (now Masbate State College) in 2016, Minasbate was called
Binisaya, which means that it is a variant of Bisaya. The influences of the languages
mentioned above led to confusion among teachers regarding words to use and their
spellings. For example, the word “kilmi,” which means “dent” in English, is spelled in four
ways by K to 3 teachers: “kilmi,” “kilme,” “kil- me,” and “kelmi.” Rosero reported that
teachers were eventually able to follow the conventions of the written Minasbate
orthography with some practice.
DepEd must recognize the challenges faced in the translation of LMs. The Bikol
language has very long words. For example, the word “and’’ in Tagalog is a twoletter word, “at.” and yet in Bikol, this generally becomes a four-letter word “asin,”
“saka,” or “buda.” In Albay, it is “sagkod” or “dangan,” and is “pagkan” in the Partido
area. This is just the conjunction “and,” a frequently used word; how much more
complicated are other words?
Nierva (personal communication, August 2020) shared that the book on Araling
Panlipunan for Grade 2, when translated, reached 600 pages. The mathematics
book reached 700 pages, which DepEd expects to be covered in one school year.
The challenge of the translation and contextualization effort is its implication on the
pedagogical perspective. There might be a need to prescribe the minimum learning
essentials only similar to DepEd Order No. 12 s. 2020 issued in the light of the
health-stricken pandemic, which streamlines the K to 12 curricula into the essential
learning competencies (MELCs). With a prescription of the MELCs for K–3 and
MTB-MLE even beyond Covid-19, Bicolano teachers can contextualize LMs without
sacrificing reading and writing skills acquisition while considering the appropriate
length of the period to engage children actively.
There is a need for contextualized storybooks (Masbate EPS). According to Masbate
EPS, the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino’s approval is being sought for Minasbate
working orthography. Rosero, however, mentioned that local communities are free to
develop their own.
The status of early grade literacy, numeracy, and
socio-emotional learning in the Bicol Region
The Bicol Region’s early grade education had a budget from the Department of
Education of PHP37.12 billion in the school year 2019–20. This budget supported
540,881 early grade students in 3,155 public schools in the same year. The Region’s
EGE budget has not steadily grown since the start of K–12 program in SY 2012–13,
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
The budget’s largest increase was 28% in SY 2016–17, and its lowest decrease is
-9.9% as recorded in SY 2020–21 budget of PHP33.44 billion.
Figure 2 exhibits the enrollment figures of the public EGE in SY 2012–13 to SY 2019–
20. Data show that all EGE levels have unsteady enrollment. Kindergarten enrollment
particularly fell in SYs 2014, 2016, and 2019. If all EGE students are
assumed to pass each level, the number of enrollments in the earlier grade level in the
current year is expected to be the number of enrollments in the next higher level
in the following year. However, the figure shows that only Grade 1 level has a higher
number of students enrolled than the previous year’s kindergarten enrollment. Both
Grades 2 and 3 have a lower number of students compared to the previous year’s
lower levels of enrollment. This implies the possibility of dropouts as early as Grade 2.
The net enrollment rate of kindergarten level from SY 2013–14 to SY 2018–19 also
recorded an unsteady annual change. Its highest net enrollment rate was recorded in
SY 2017–18 at 83.9%, while its lowest was in SY 2018-2019 at 76.88%. Its
net enrollment rate in SY 2016-2017 of 68.82% was higher than the Philippine’s
kindergarten net enrollment rate of 66% in the same period.
Figure 2. Enrollment Figures of the Public EGE in SY 2012–2013 to 2019–2020
The next section lists the challenges encountered, efforts undertaken, and on-going
interventions in early grade literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional learning.
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Challenges, Efforts Undertaken, and On-Going Interventions in Early Grade
Literacy
Insufficient and inappropriate learning materials. At the start of implementation of
MTB- MLE in SY 2012–13, visual aid materials that use MT were insufficient in
Bombon, Bula, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Casiguran, Castilla Naga City,
and Tigaon. There is only one approved textbook written in MT (Naga EPS). Until
at present, some subjects were not translated. These are being made at the DepEd
Central Office. Publishing textbooks in different languages in limited copies is costly,
which is one of DepEd’s challenges.
Every school year, DepEd provided the schools with learning materials, but these were
not usually sufficient for all students (Caramoan). Sometimes, only one copy or a soft
copy was provided. These schools then have to reproduce based on
the number of their students. The school’s MOOE could not adequately fund the
reproduction of the learning materials, including purchasing the required equipment and
supplies (Naga EPS, Caramoan). CN SDS noted that with so much language
disparity in the province, the division would need more budget to reproduce
contextualized learning materials. In the case of a school in Bula, its MOOE had an
allocation of PHP348 thousand for the whole school year; and only PHP30 thousand could
be allocated for office supplies (Bula Prin). Aside from lacking supply, these
materials often arrived when the school year is almost over (Prin).
The Covid-19 pandemic amplified the problem of lacking materials. For the school
year 2020–21, the self-learning modules will be produced by the Central Office (Albay
SDS); however, as of July 17, 2020, SDOs have yet to receive the instructions on
downloading the learning materials or the available funds.
Besides lacking and delayed supply, instructional materials were not also
appropriately contextualized to the local language. For instance, Pilar and Sorsogon
teachers had to translate the Central Bikol materials to Bikol-Pilar, which cannot be
considered the Lingua Franca because other children speak Bikol-Donsol, could
not understand the former. Teachers need to translate further for these children.
This experience confirms the call of the linguist Hernandez of the University of the
Philippines that the greater challenge for DepEd is to conduct language mapping at
the barangay level (Nierva, personal communication, August 2020).
Another case is Camarines Norte. While the provided Dynamic Learning Programs
(DLPs) were in Tagalog (CN EPS), these were not applicable to a province whose
learners speak variants between Bikol and Tagalog in almost every barangay and
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municipality (CN SDS). It is necessary to contextualize the learning materials in
the local language. The language diversity of the province makes contextualization a
big challenge for the teachers. This is especially taxing to teachers who handle
self-contained classes (CN EPS), where one teacher single-handedly teaches eight
subjects. This means the teacher needs at least eight learning devices (such as
charts, flashcards, models, TV, and so forth) to prepare for just one class.
To respond to the lacking learning materials, teachers made their own modules and
worksheets (Naga EPS). They also created their own stories, poems, tigsik (a form
of poetry), and other literary materials. They also translated and adapted reading
materials from other languages.
To reuse these materials, some teachers resorted to printing them in large fonts in
tarpaulins (Caramoan). Those with an internet connection downloaded a soft
copy of the Learning Resource Management and Development System (LRMDS)
materials for printing. Those with poor internet connections had to either pool their
transportation resources and print in town or wait for an internet connection late at
night.
Without a budget for supplies, teachers were compelled to donate from their own
pockets and solicited from stakeholders (Caramoan). Schools put up an official
Facebook site and used this platform to solicit the needed materials. The inadequacy
and delayed distribution of contextualized activity worksheets took much of the
teachers’ time. Teachers complained that they also needed time for themselves and for
fostering social relationships. To ease the teachers’ burden, a principal had to
gradually purchase the lacking LMs using MOOE gradually so that funds allocated for
the school activities would not be used.
The SDOs planned to send soft copies of materials and funds directly to every school for
faster reproduction of materials to be in time for the opening of classes initially
scheduled for August 2020.
The lack of reading materials and activity worksheets can be addressed by increasing the
schools’ MOOE and allocating funds appropriately to procure equipment and
supplies needed to reproduce them. SEF may be tapped to raise the MOOE funds.
Support from private individuals, organizations, and institutions like The ABC+ Project
can be solicited for book donations or learning materials in volume when increasing
MOOE is not possible (CN SDS). These books and learning materials should help the
early grade learners to become readers, i.e., reading with comprehension suitable for
levels K to 3. Thus, the materials must be replicated based on the standards set by
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LRMDS to ensure the quality of its content and maintain gender inclusivity (CS SDS).
The existing materials should also be assessed on their readability level. Another goal is
to procure supplementary books with a 1:1 pupil-to-book ratio. These books could be
identified from the list provided by the Central Office.
Cases of assigned teachers with different MT. The Camarines Norte SDS noted that
the assigned teacher was not familiar with the local MT. Some Bikol-speaking
teachers were assigned classes in Tagalog-speaking areas. This resulted in teachers
conversing in Bicol when talking to the children while using materials in Tagalog.
No standard reading test for Grades 1–3. There is no standard reading test
for Grades 1–3, making it difficult to evaluate the early grade pupils’ reading and
comprehension level (CN SDS). The CN and Sorsogon SDOs prepared a customized
material and tool for reading and numeracy to evaluate if the students in the division meet
the reading levels of grades 1–3 and numeracy level of Grades 1–6.
An alarming number of slow readers and non-readers. Using the mother tongue has
not improved children’s reading capacity and reading speed, as most research showed.
Data showed that teachers continued to encounter non-readers and slow
readers (CN EPS). Camarines Sur SDS estimated that about 3,000 learners in the
classrooms could be called “struggling readers.’’ DepEd memorandum no.
173 s. 2019 recognized that there is a need to strengthen every learner’s reading
proficiency, as revealed by the poor results of the national assessment test.
To heed this call, Bula Public Schools District Supervisor launched Project InsPire
(Intensive Strategies in Sustaining Pupils’ Interest in Reading) (Bula Prin). This
project involved re-orientation of EG teachers, reading festivals, and recognition of best
school reading implementers and teachers. Technical assistance was given to
EGE implementers in the school, including intensive instruction supervision. Teachers
provided remedial instruction, especially for non-readers and readers who exhibited
no comprehension at all (Bula Prin, CN SDS). In Sta. Elena, teachers held reading
sessions with a “mystery reader,” where personalities such as the municipal mayor were
invited during the “reading with the Mayor.” Another school tapped performing higherlevel students to peer-tutor lower-grade students (Pilar). The provision of
instructional materials (IM) and reading materials by the ABC+ project could partly
address the challenges of non-readers (CN EPS). The Camarines Norte EPS, on
her part, conducted school monitoring to ensure that school heads conduct teacher
observation. She also reproduced reading materials for lower and higher grades
and distributed them to schools that she visited. In addition to these, the CN SDO
customized tools and materials for reading and initiated the Operasyon Basa at
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Bilang to address the challenges faced in literacy and numeracy. CN SDO also
provided a nutrition program among slow readers and non-readers to aid these
children nutritionally (CN EPS). The Naga City EPS believed that a focused plan and
strategy to improve K to 3 would eventually address the literacy and reading
comprehension of a higher grade.
The health pandemic posed another challenge in addressing the literacy problem.
The schools under the Albay SDO had to conduct an orientation with the parents
on the basics of beginning reading on July 27 to 31, 2020, to empower parents as
partners in educating the children.
Congested curriculum and overlapping of activities. The relatively poor
performance of learners in the public school system, and the rising number of nonreaders, can be partly attributed to the congested curriculum that DepEd requires,
as well as the frequent disruption of classes due to co-curricular and extracurricular
activities, such as academic contests and sports activities (Catanduanes Parent, Bula
Prin). When these contestants go back to school, teachers do not have the time and
energy to repeat the lessons. A sports competition usually takes the students away
from classroom activities and lessons for about two to three weeks (Bula Prin).
A report of a teacher teaching Grade 3 students was assigned as the school-based
feeding program coordinator (Goa Prin). Such an assignment had affected the class
contact time of the student. The CN SDS recommended reducing subjects for Grades 1–3
and providing more focused learning packages on the 3Rs (reading, writing, and
arithmetic) and decongest competencies to the most essential for Grades 1–3.
Anxiety of parents on using the Mother Tongue as LOI. In the initial
implementation of MTB-MLE, children were not used to hearing Bikol used inside the
classroom. It also made the children speak in the mixed language/code-switching,
which to some schools would be detrimental to language and cultural development.
Children get further confused because they are exposed to various mass media that
mostly use English and Filipino when they get home.
Until at present, some parents ask why Bikol is being used as a medium of
instruction. They contended that Bikol is already being used at home, and the
significance of its use in classrooms is incomprehensible (Bula PTA, FGD). Parents
would prefer that English be taught to their children to catch up with the lessons in the
higher levels better. It was reported that some parents became unmotivated to send
their young children to school and condone absenteeism (Irosin).
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One stakeholder observed that the MTB-MLE curriculum is focused on the period
for using languages L1, L2, and L3. Teachers tend to utilize pedagogies that are too
academically-inclined rather than honing the basic practical life lessons suited for the
learners’ age (FGD).
Schools expressed the importance of parents’ support more urgently needed during
these times of distance learning. Parents have to monitor their children in reading the
materials (Buhi Prin).
Transition Issues of Primary to Intermediate Level. Teachers and parents both
reported that learners starting Grade 4 had difficulty adapting to the new LOI even
if it was introduced in the lower grades. The schools and teachers had to put up
more advocacy posts and activities, such as English Reading Corner, English
Reading Month, and multimedia presentation with English instruction to help improve
children’s familiarity and use of the English language. Rosero, linguist and author
of “An Garamiton na Ortograpiya,” however, pointed out that this early exit does not
comply with the principles of MTB-MLE where MT should be used as a medium of
instruction until Grade 6 (Rosero, personal communication, September 2020). Rosero
explained that one of the fundamental principles of MTB-MLE is to teach pupils to
read, count, and comprehend using MT before introducing foreign languages like
English and Filipino. This way, the pupils’ cognitive skills are honed since this is the
language they used at home.
Need for continuous faculty development. With the current requirements of the
pandemic and the advent of technology, teachers need to be attuned on the use and
delivery of different modalities in early grade instruction delivery and the preparation of
contextualized materials (CS SDS, Iriga SDS). Administrators and principals
also need to be trained to guide and make recommendations to improve EGE (Iriga
SDS). Education experts’ intervention is deemed important at this stage of MTBMLE implementation, particularly on contextualized learning materials development and
pedagogical approaches suited to engage early education learners (Bula Prin).
Enhancement of curriculum and teaching techniques through collaboration and
exchange of insights during in-school Learning Action Cells (LACs) can speed up
adjustment and improvement in EGE but will require additional funding. Language
and pedagogy experts can be invited for consultation and faculty development.
With a limited number of bachelor’s graduates in early child education, it becomes
imperative that faculty development specific for early child education be conducted
extensively to develop a pool of specialized teachers for early grade learners and
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
increase the required teaching staff (Tigaon). Teacher monitoring and supervision are also
necessary to address the usual challenges of teacher reassignments as well as
tendencies for complacency (CS SDS).
Some efforts undertaken include conduct of training on content enhancement and
class management and student handling for Kindergarten to Grade 3 teachers by the
Iriga SDO. Also, Masbate SDO sent a few teachers for training in Manila that
could be afforded by the office’s budget. Additional teachers were trained through the
regional office’s conduct of a trainers’ training, which was extended to the division
level.
Challenges, efforts undertaken, and on-Going interventions in early grade
numeracy
Inconsistent policies at the start of MTB-MLE implementation. Issues cropped up
at the initial stage of MTB-MLE implementation regarding the use of MT in
mathematics. Teachers, parents, and students were having difficulty using technical and
sometimes archaic Bikol words (CN SDS). Teachers translated mathematical
terms in the dialect only to find out that district and national exams and competitions in
math were conducted in English. The instruction to retain English technical
mathematical terms was recent.
Bikol numeracy words are no longer used at home. Translating in Bikol is usually the
difficult part of teaching K to 3 levels, especially that Bikol numbers are no longer used at
home (CN SDS). Bikol words found in the book are different from the dialects used in the
locality, which caused problems for the teacher and students.
Insufficient contextualized materials. Similar to reading, numeracy materials,
such as contextualized materials and counting objects, are insufficient. SDOs relied
on the IMs provided by the Central Office (Albay SDS). Even if teachers were eager
to reproduce contextualized materials, it was observed that learners were more
enthusiastic with their lessons if LMs are of high quality and colorful (Iriga SDS).
Funding for more contextualized materials can be obtained from SEF using the usual
budget for sports activities, which will not materialize due to the health pandemic
(Albay SDS). At present, Albay SDO is evaluating the possible reading and numeracy
materials that can be procured by the provincial government. The CN SDO provided
a detailed lesson plan that passed through quality assurance, such as content
and language editing made by an external entity aside from the quality-validation
conducted by the EPS and the SDS. The CN SDO also devised a tool to determine
the mathematics proficiency level of the students.
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Absence of standard tools for numeracy. The DepEd Central Office has not
provided a tool to evaluate the numeracy competencies of Grade 1–3, and yet a
report on pupils who are numerates and non-numerates was demanded. The CN and
Sorsogon SDOs made a tool to identify mathematical proficiency levels (CN EPS).
The SDS also visited the schools on the use of the numeracy competency
assessment tool.
Challenges, efforts undertaken, and ongoing interventions in early grade socioemotional learning
MTB-MLE is viewed best implemented in the socio-emotional development of the
learner. Students can express themselves well in the vernacular. Bicolano values of
adaptability and hospitality are accentuated especially when transferees from
Manila are accommodated by speaking Tagalog instead of their own vernacular. The
learners’ socio-emotional learning usually depends on classroom management and
the assigned teacher (CN SDS). It would be a challenge to determine if the special
edcuation lessons are practiced outside the school (CN SDS), but the absence of an
incident report involving K to 3 demonstrates that socio-emotional learning (SEL) is
well placed in this group of young learners (Albay SDS). Despite the positive view on the
use of MT on SEL, some challenges were still noted.
The affective objective of the lesson was thrust to the sidelines. Due to the
congested curriculum for Grades 1 to 3, lessons were pressed for time. At times, the
affective objectives of the lessons were not carried through.
Struggling readers developed low self-esteem. The Camarines Sur SDS observed that
children with reading difficulties also develop low self-confidence, leading to
bullying and other misdemeanors. The schools respond by conducting programs that
boost students’ self-confidence. The SDO, on its part, provides technical assistance
to teachers to address these cases. The supervisors provide the teachers with
orientation, updates, and feedback in handling such issues in the classroom (CS
SDS). Here, the importance of correctly identifying the Lingua Franca is underscored to
ensure that no child will be left behind. It also implies the need for better
monitoring by teachers of children’s reading levels and the underlying reasons in
cases where the student’s reading level falls below the average.
Other general challenges include:
Poor and inappropriate classroom and facilities for Kindergarten. Some schools
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reported the existing substandard classroom and facilities. For instance, in Bula,
the standard Kindergarten classroom size of 7x9 square meters was not observed,
and kindergarten students were placed in the regular- classroom size of 6x8 square
meters. Class sizes, especially in lower primary grade levels, such as Kindergarten,
Grade 1, and Grade 2, should have a teacher-student ratio of at least 1:25 because
the learners are at an age level where they are hyperactive and require constant
guidance. Ignoring the prescribed class size compromises children’s learning and
guidance. Until the last school year, class sizes for these grade levels were as large
as 38 students (Bula). Improving class sizes, nevertheless, implies increasing the
teaching staff.
Challenges of remote learning delivery. As has been expressed at times by
teachers, remote learning modular and blended delivery is minimal. Internet
connectivity is a challenge in most areas of the Region. Poor families do not own
android cellphones that can access mobile data for internet-based instruction delivery (Sta.
Elena, CN). While other learning modalities, such as transistor radios and
television, are being implemented, access to these devices, especially in remote rural
households, is limited. The distribution of transistor radios has not yet been
implemented. Schools cannot rely on parents alone to help their children read or
become adept at math without the direct assistance of teachers (Albay SDS). The
provision of tablets with saved interactive lessons to children can be explored (Albay
SDS).
At present, Albay was selected to simulate the first week of August for both learning
modalities—modular and blended. The principal of Sto. Domingo Central School
was coached on how to implement modular delivery without face-to-face instruction, i.e.,
preparation for organizing classes and meeting up with children at the Barangay Learning
Center through the support of barangay officials. For remote, blended
learning delivery, the Polangui South Central School will pilot radio-based instruction due
to the mayor’s initiative to set up a radio station (Albay SDS).
Covid-19 Pandemic Opportunities and Constraints on
Early Grade Education
The global pandemic put basic education in a tight situation. It disrupted regular
classes in the 2019–20 school year, leaving some critical competencies undelivered
(Bula). The end-of-year ceremonies were not held. Some prospective school
partners were put on hold or postponed. School projects, such as the construction of
temporary learning units and classroom repairs, were stopped or postponed (Bula).
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The school year 2020–21 started late in most basic education private schools and
even later in the public schools. Aside from delayed start, teachers have had to work
double-time in preparing instructional materials using different methods. Early grade
education pupils are at risk of losing educational opportunities, as each learner relies
heavily on adults as learning facilitators, which may not be viable in most areas due
to Covid-19.
Several opportunities and constraints arose due to Covid-19 to the advantage and
disadvantage of English for General Purposes (EGPs) in MTB-MLE implementation.
DepEd adaptation to the new normal. Instructional flexibility is critical for teaching and
learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. It requires various methods and
instructional materials to sustain the attention and learning engagement of young
learners. In response, DepEd has adopted alternative learning approaches to
facilitate learning, such as online learning tools such as Zoom, Google Classroom,
Facebook, radio, and others. For students without access to the internet, some
schools provide printed modules. DepEd also adjusted the enrollment process for SY
2020–21 as declared in its Order No. 8 s. 2020 issued on May 28, 2020, to reduce
possible exposure of learners and teachers to Covid-19. The agency also streamlined the
K to 12 curricula to recognize a number of factors that affected the start of
classes and the learners’ welfare amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Raised parents’ involvement in learners’ education. DepEd provided online
training to parents to strengthen their role (DepEd 2020). In addition, parents’ active
involvement in student learning is being encouraged through PTAs and DepEd.
Temporarily resolved issues on congested curriculum and overlapping of
activities. DepEd Order no. 12 s. 2020 adopted the basic education continuity plan
(BECP) that streamlined the K to 12 curricula into the essential learning
competencies. It temporarily resolves the problems raised by teachers about the
EGE’s congested curriculum.
Improved utilization of DepEd Learning Portal. With face-to-face interactions
prohibited, teachers now use the DepEd Learning Portal more often to look for
updated materials that can be used in online instruction. Several rural schools,
however, still find online instruction a problem due to slow or no internet connectivity
as in the case of Manito, Pio Duran, Rapu-Rapu, Libon, and Caramoan. As to
the content of the portal, the SDS of Albay noted that it had updated videos and
examples that go with the lesson. The lessons are also appropriate, and the content
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of the resources in the learning portal is easier to understand compared to the
information in the books (Baao Prin). However, sharing video materials with the
pupils is not always feasible because not all schools have audio-visual equipment.
Another challenge in using the learning portal is the difficulty of searching for
resources, as lessons are not arranged by grading period. The Principal of Baao
noted that teachers find it difficult to identify which lessons are for the first or second
grades. The resources available are also limited (Baao teacher). The resources for
some subjects are often not available or are in English or Filipino.
DILG’s Call opens up avenues for increased LGU support to the education
sector. DepEd Order No. 12, s. 2020 called on a revisiting of the Joint Circular No. 1, s.
2017 on the utilization of the SEF, which will be aligned to the “new normal”
in basic education service delivery. DILG supported this DepEd call and issued its
memorandum circular in June 2020, enjoining all LGUs to convene their respective
LSBs to determine and allocate SEF in the localized implementation of BE-LCP.
Assurance of EFA. Issues regarding the coping capacity of students, faculty, and staff
members for alternative learning options surfaced. This included children with special
needs enrolled in Special Education or SPED learning centers who may not be able to
cope with digital trends and online learning systems. Increasing mental health and
psychosocial issues among learners, especially those with pre-existing mental health
issues, also emerged. Aid for students experiencing anxiety about
adjusting from face-to-face learning to online classes is critical.
The increased burden to teachers and school administrators. Schools’ MOOE
is insufficient to cover the printing of bulk modules to be distributed to the students
in response to the preference of parents in rural areas for modular classes (Sta.
Elena, Bula). Teachers expressed their need for financial, material, and equipment
support because of the pandemic. Due to rigid, bureaucratic policies, for example,
Joint Circular No. 2019-1 issued by the Commission on Audit, Department of Budget
and Management and DepEd, some school heads have had difficulty downloading
the needed MOOEs for printing LMs, especially when inter-city travel is limited
(Caramoan). The situation forces schools and teachers to become resourceful by
using their funds or soliciting from families and friends to provide for learners’ needs.
Anxiety on Parents’ Support to EGPs. Modular classes entail that parent/adult
guidance is available in early grade pupils’ homes to manage lessons. Parents’
capacity to provide tutelage to their children is a challenge in rural areas (San
Miguel).
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
04
STAKEHOLDER
MAPPING AND ANALYSIS
Various stakeholders operate at multiple levels. The
stakeholders operating at the school and community
levels are parents, school administrators and teachers,
and the barangay chairman. At the regional, provincial,
municipal, and/or city levels are various agencies and
local government units.
CSOs, however, operate at different levels. Alumni
associations, private corporations (for example, Colgate),
civil society organizations (such as the Rotary Club,
Kiwanis Club) are present at the school and community
levels. International organizations (such as World Vision) and
non-government organizations (for example, the Bicol Center
for Child Development, NCPC) mostly operate at
the provincial and municipal levels.
The respondents in this study mentioned roughly1 146
stakeholders that have provided assistance since 2012.
The top four most common organizations providing
assistance are government agencies, non-government
organizations, and school-based organizations (Table 9).
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
School-based organizations are the most common stakeholder operating in the
education sector. The other most common organizations that assist education
are government institutions and agencies. In the LGU sector, the most mentioned
stakeholders are non-government organizations and government agencies.
Table 9. Type of organizations present in the sampled municipalities
and their distribution by sector, 2020
NUMBER OF ORGANIZATIONS PRESENT
IN EACH SECTOR
TYPE OF ORGANIZATIONS
EDUCATION SECTOR
LGU SECTOR
Civic Organization
9
7
Corporation
9
3
Educational Institution
1
1
Government Agency
13
13
Government Institution
20
2
International Organization
6
3
Non-Government Organization
10
14
Partylist
0
1
People's Organization
4
0
Private Individuals
6
1
School-based organizations
23
0
Total
101
45
Table 10 summarizes the number of organizations that the education and LGU
sectors engaged with since 2012.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Table 10. Type of organizations present in the sampled municipalities and
their distribution per income class, 2020
MUNICIPAL CLASS
TYPE OF ORGANIZATIONS
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
5TH
Civic Organization
3
3
2
5
2
Corporation
2
3
2
2
2
Educational Institution
1
0
0
1
0
Government Agency
2
5
9
4
1
Government Institution
3
11
0
6
0
International Organization
1
2
0
1
0
Non-Government
Organization
3
1
4
12
1
Partylist
0
0
0
1
0
People's Organization
3
0
0
0
1
Private Individuals
1
1
0
1
2
School-based organizations
5
7
0
6
5
Total
24
33
17
39
14
Stakeholders’ capacity, influence, and support
Parents can persuade other parents to provide support, assist the school in
managing funds, and organize activities by doing volunteer work or soliciting funds.
They support their children’s education by monitoring their children’s completion of
homework and school attendance. They can also teach their children (for example,
in reading) or ensuring that they reinforce school discipline. Parents are also limited
in assisting their children with schoolwork; some cannot read or write or are busy
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
attending to their farms (Baao teacher, Uson teacher, Manito teacher).
School administrators play a crucial role in providing leadership in the development of
the school and its programs. As the requesting officer of the school’s MOOE and
SEF allocation, the school administrator can appropriate budget for program priorities of
the school. Together with the teachers, school administrators can raise funds and mobilize
support by inviting stakeholders for the Brigada Eskwela. They can also tap parents
through the PTA to take part in the school’s drive to respond to its needs.
In Pilar, for instance, the principal invites the Barangay Committee on Education,
selected barangay officials, and presidents of various organizations to their meetings,
which facilitates the engagement of various sectors (for example, a church group
teaches Catechism every Monday; 4Ps members are in charge of general weeding
in the school grounds; barangay officials are tasked to solicit for prizes and trophies
during school events; the PTA and alumni help raise funds).
The support from the barangay comes in various forms: financial, human resource
(such as security), and advocacy. These forms of support are instrumental in school
operations. For example, during a stakeholders’ forum conducted by DepEd in Albay,
the SDS said that barangay captains pledged their support to education by organizing the
venue for picking up and dropping off modules; as such, teachers will only deliver the
modules to one site in the barangay. In Virac, the barangay serves as an onsite
venue for the registration of school-aged learners. In Casiguran, the barangay council
offers its physical resources as a venue during programs. Some other forms of
support during school activities include the provision of a sound system (Prieto Diaz) and
snacks, manning the registration committee (Pilar), and ensuring security in the area
(Prieto Diaz, Casiguran).
Some barangays also offer financial aid to selected students (Bombon, Virac) or cash
assistance for reading programs (Castilla). They also donate construction materials
for school classrooms or reading centers (Buhi, Pilar, Prieto Diaz, Bula, Naga). They also
help raise funds by sending solicitation letters to potential donors.
Some serve as advocates of education by instilling its importance to community
members (Bula, Masbate), for example, by encouraging parents to send their schoolage children to school (CS). Some barangay allocate funds for the reproduction of
materials (Iriga, Irosin). In the case of Irosin, the barangay allocates 5 percent of
its IRA for elementary school and daycare. In Pilar, the school principal noted that
the Committee on Education of the barangay is always present in school meetings
and active in crafting the school improvement plan. Because of the engagement of
the barangay in Pilar school, the material recovery facility (MRF) was set up at the
school, which resolved their problem with garbage.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Local government units manage the SEF and have the capacity to continue school
projects started by the previous administration (Castilla Prin, Irosin Prin). It also has its
own MOOEs to tap through its powers to realign budgets. The mayor of Buhi, for
instance, said that the MLGU is willing to support and allocate a budget for education
aside from SEF. The mayor said they already committed to printing the modules and
books that are being contextualized. Most of the time, local chief executives have
the financial capacity drawn from their stock, wealth, or business (Bula Prin). They also
have the capacity to encourage real property owners through its programs
and accomplishments to pay taxes to fund SEF (Castilla LSB, Daet LSB). Their
partnership and linkages with non-government and civic organizations through
support of their activities are reciprocated by similar support to LGU projects (Bicol
Center for Child Development, FGD).
Other than the LGUs’ LCEs, other branches of government also provided assistance,
mostly through the repair and construction of school buildings and facilities (Sta
Elena). NEDA V helped clean and repair classrooms and donated school equipment and
facilities to three basic education schools. The Office of the Congressman
provided funds for the repair of classrooms, the construction of pavilions (CS SDS,
Masbate SDS), and the construction of a school building (Masbate SDS) and a
reading center (Bula Prin). The Office of the Governor supported the hiring of teacher
aides for the Kindergarten classes (CN SDS), the reproduction of lesson plans (CN
SDS), and the provision of reading materials (CS SDS). The Covid-19 pandemic
opened a different opportunity for LGU engagement to schools and the use of SEF.
In Albay, the Office of the Governor, which initially mobilized funds for the support of
Palarong Bicol, realigned its funds to curriculum development (SDS).
The non-government organizations in the Bicol Region responded to calls for support
when most needed. Each non-governmental organization (NGO) responds according to its
vision and mission (Bicol Center for Child Development, FGD). These groups
also demonstrated their willingness to engage and partner with other organizations to
work on projects identified by the community when their assistance is sought.
The support from NGOs ranges from legislative partnerships, livelihoods support to
women, teacher training, and the provision of necessary school facilities like WASH. For
instance, the Naga City People’s Council has an existing engagement with
DepEd and LGU Naga as part of the school board. They provided recommendations to
the Naga City School Board on which programs to pursue. The Social Action
Center has a similar role as NCPC. They sat as a member of the Local Social Body in
Legazpi City and contributed to the education sector’s planning and decision-making. Their
current engagement is to provide WASH facilities in the schools (WinS). Their
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
recent partnership with Bicol University on the use of the communication facilities of
parishes and dioceses is a response to the need for a blended instruction delivery in
higher education in the countryside in response to the Covid-19 situation. The Bicol Center
for Child Development’s advocacy engagements are focused on out-of-school youth,
feeding programs during calamities, and teacher training, mobile training,
capacity training, and ALS. These show the potential of mobilizing strong support from
various stakeholders on education-focused projects.
Stakeholder engagement
Stakeholder engagements with schools were initiated mainly by organizations,as in
Manito, Jose Panganiban, and San Miguel. These initial engagements, however, offer
potential future partnerships. The Principal of Manito said that if not for the public
gathering limitation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, they would have had
invited stakeholders to the Brigada Eskwela. In some cases, the principals would
actively search for potential stakeholders—the Principal of Sta. Elena, San Vicente,
Caramoan, Balud, Batuan, Irosin, and SDS of Camarines Sur said that school heads and
administrators would send emails or letters to stakeholders. The Principal of
Sta. Elena sent letters to organizations such as the United Nations, corporations, and
government institutions requesting books or bags. The principals were often assisted
by teachers, the PTA president, and teachers’ president (San Vicente
Prin), sometimes by the barangay chairman (Bula Prin) to identify and reach out to
stakeholders. Other stakeholder engagements were channeled through the DepEd
Division Office to the schools.
Limitations, turn-offs, and disincentives
Some turn-offs include the disagreement of some parents in the use of MT. Teachers
addressed this by stressing the importance of using MT in education. The dispute
about MT means that there is still a need to explain its use in EGE in meetings and
orientation sessions so that parents understand its value.
Too much bureaucracy is a common complaint among CSOs: a unit cannot make
decisions without the mayor’s approval; officials are unavailable and cannot push
some requests through; the central office must approve requests, and many
documents must be processed. Despite these challenges, NGOs still push through
with their interventions, although it is time consuming.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
The presence of the New People’s Army in the area, on the other hand, hinders
schools from inviting certain stakeholders such as the PNP, which can provide child
protection training.
Motivation and interest
Below are some of the motivations and interests of stakeholders in EGE:
• The primary motivation of students and school administrators is to provide holistic
education and development of children. Parents feel proud when their children are
part of a performing school. However, they hope to lessen their financial burden
on their children’s school needs (Goa and Irosin Prin).
• School heads are focused on addressing the current needs of schools and their
pupils, particularly pupils’ performance in Grades 1 to 3 in reading and on the
National Achievement Test, the teachers’ instructional needs, for example, in
producing the social studies (Araling Panlipunan) module, and the improvement
of school facilities. Additionally, concrete school projects should be visible to
business investors. SDSs have recognized the importance of acknowledging
the changes that are happening in schools. They have presented evidencebased data on best practices, applied it to the current situation and needs of
the education sector, and have promoted transparency in utilizing resources to
encourage collaboration and partnerships among NGOs, civic organizations, and
business investors (Goa, Irosin, Prieto Diaz, and Pilar Prin; Albay SDS, CN SDS; CS
SDS; Iriga SDS; Masbate EPS; and Masbate SDS).
• Schools administrators are motivated to enhance their ability in submitting and
lobbying good project proposals, programs, and projects; in communicating and
collaborating with potential partners in creative ways, for example, by maximizing
online facilities to encourage stakeholders to support remote and deprived
schools; to make use of business funds systematically; and present systematized
proceedings to bridge and sustain programs, networks, and partnerships with
stakeholders and education sectors (Bula, Prieto Diaz, Casiguran, Castilla, and Pilar
Principals; CN SDS; CS SDS; Iriga SDS; Masbate EPS; Masbate SDS).
• School administrators, NGOs, civic organizations, and business investors want
to be recognized for their contributions to the improvement and performance of
schools and the development of the future workforce/income-earning consumers
(Goa, Prieto Diaz, Iriga Principals; JCI Pili-Isarog).
• NGOs and civic organizations recognize the importance of cooperation among all
sectors to promote and support Bicol education and reduce the high number of
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
non-readers. They expressed their willingness to help and engage in education
as long as (1) Regional and Division Offices are cooperative, (2) the needs of the
community are identified, and (3) the assistance that is needed is aligned with the
organization’s programs, services, vision, and mission (JCI-Naga, PANGOPOD,
NCPC, Bicol Center for Child Development, Rotary Club).
Avenues to engage stakeholders
Brigada Eskwela was initially established in 2003 as a week-long clean-up and
beautification exercise called the National Schools’ Maintenance Week. It also allows
private entities to extend support to the education sector and tap into tax incentives
advocated in the Republic Act 8525 or the Adopt-A-School Act of 1998 (Hernandez
2011). Usually held during summer in preparation for the coming school year, it was
expanded to a school program for the whole year focusing on communityled efforts to improve student participation, reduce dropouts, and improve student
performance (DepEd 2009). It was dubbed as Brigada Eskwela Plus or Partnership
Support for Access. With the Covid-19 pandemic, the Brigada Eskwela was made
a venue to focus on partnership agreements that will bring in donations for thermal
scanners, hand sanitizing equipment and materials, and printing of Covid-19-related
materials to aid in the advocacy of health protection and protocols to learners and the
community.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
05
RECOMMENDATIONS
Several recommendations have been gleaned from the
political economy of the Region.
Harnessing the political-economic
set-up of the Region
LGU support for early grade education may be tapped from
government units with a high concentration in tourism,
agriculture and fisheries, and mining, where the Bicol Region
has earned most of its gross regional domestic product.
However, the recommendation must be revisited once the
economy has recovered from the recession caused by
the pandemic. The performance of the LGU of the Bicol
Region generally demonstrates IRA-dependency, but first
and second-class municipalities generally show lower IRAdependency than the regional average, which means that
these municipal classes may have more leeway and funds to
support EGE. The sampled cities and municipalities in
these income classes with education as one of the priority
programs include Legazpi, Albay; Daet and Jose Panganiban in
Camarines Norte; Buhi and Bula in Camarines Sur;
Caramoran, Catanduanes; Aroroy, Masbate; and Pilar,
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Sorsogon.
DepEd or the ABC+ Team can prepare a presentation to market support for
EGE to the LGUs with education as one of its priority agenda items, particularly
with Legazpi and Manito in Albay; Daet, Jose Panganiban, and San Lorenzo
in Camarines Norte; Buhi and Bula in Camarines Sur, Caramoan and Pandan
in Catanduanes; Aroroy in Masbate; and Castilla, Pilar, and Sta. Magdalena,
including the provincial government in Sorsogon. With their focus on education,
some adjustments to their priorities can influence decision-makers through
appropriate explanation and lobbying. LSBs can also be invited for a reorientation through the Department of Interior and local government and
the DepEd support. The re-orientation must emphasize the governance and
decision-making functions of the LSBs, highlighting their power to enact changes and
deliberate on creative ways to maximize and make the SEF responsive to
DepEd and local schools’ current needs, in particular. Their role as a bridging
leader and stimulant to LGU’s contribution to advancing early grade education
must be emphasized.
Since cost-sharing is being practiced in the three levels of government, i.e.,
provincial, municipal, and barangay, particularly in Camarines Norte, this set- up
could be explored in promoting direct but creative ways of improving early
grade education. A five-party agreement among the three levels of government,
DepEd, and ABC+ can be extended to other provinces. This arrangement can
begin in provinces where LGUs have a history of aligned programs down to
the lowest government level and have a relatively better financial capacity,
particularly Buhi and Bula in Camarines Sur Caramoan, Catanduanes; and
Aroroy, Masbate.
The opportunities for a deeper look and evaluation of MLGU’s support to the
EGE situation has been opened by the Covid-19 pandemic and the ABC+
project. It has been strengthened by the Joint DepEd, DBM, and DILG Circular No.
1, s. 2017 for the local implementation of BE-LCP. This can be magnified
through close coordination of DepEd officials, for example, PSDS with the
MLGUs’ local chief executives for continued guidance of possible responsive
support.
Responding to the nature of the Region
The ABC+ project cannot ignore the natural endowments of the region, including
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
its being in a typhoon path and part of a peninsula where three of its provinces
(Albay, CS, and CN) lie within the Bicol River basin. Being in a typhoon belt,
the Bicol Region experiences an average of two typhoons per month in the
rainy season and one strong typhoon per year. Most low-lying areas, including
communities traversed by the Bicol River, experience flooding during the rainy
season. LMs that must be distributed to schools need to consider the natural
phenomenon that the Bicol Region experiences. The practice of a Caramoan
school of printing IMs in tarpaulin is one example of more resilient IM use in a
coastal area.
IM development and the potential of cultural tourism
in the region
Contextualizing materials for MT instruction requires identifying cultural
information. With the Division Local Heritage Mapping to serve as input for MT
development, it can also serve as a material for developing cultural tourism.
The LGUs might be interested in investing in this because of their priorities in
tourism. Moreover, the LGU is mandated through the RA10066 or the National
Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 to assist in establishing and maintaining the
Philippine Registry of Cultural Properties (PRECUP).
Strong DepEd and LGU partnership
Strengthened communication and coordination of DepEd with the LGU must be
established. DepEd must review the frequency of rotation of SDS among the
provinces and LGUs in consideration of the rapport that DepEd can build with
the LGUs for more intensive and extensive collaboration. LGUs have expressed their
willingness to support the education sector but are limited by the lack
of communication of an expressed need from DepEd. The SDS can act as a
pathway and bridging leader to motivate the LGU to get more involved with the
education sector’s affairs. To assume this role, SDS needs to be re-oriented
towards the vision, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the LGU so
that s/he can situate the needs of early grade education within the overall
thrust of the LGU. The strategy of providing constant and continuous education
sector updates to the LGU can maintain LGU’s sustained interest in the sector.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Revisit MTB-MLE curriculum
DepEd must revisit the essence of MT use directives and place enabling
structures for its advancement and purposeful delivery. The question on the
balance of the MT enhancement, the transitioning to Filipino and English, and
the development of young learners’ life-learning skills must be addressed. The
Bicolano linguists’ perspective and recommendations should be addressed
to firmly direct the use of MT in enhancing the Bicolano language and culture as a
channel to more confident learning of the second and third languages.
There is also the issue of an early exit in the use of MT, which defeats the
goal of enhancing learners’ cognitive skills. There is also a need to review the
implementation of MTB-MLE because some schools teach orthography to EGE
when it should be used as a tool by teachers to help them develop contextualized IMs.
Also, technical math terms need not be introduced in early grades. Instead,
the process of computing in an appropriate context with relevant real objects,
pictures, and stories can be introduced. The declared official guide on Bikol
spelling has to be openly promoted so that all sectors, even those outside of
education, can help disseminate and advance its use. The development of
local learning materials must not only be limited to contextualization but also
encompass ideal concepts and contents vis-a-vis the allotted period to learn
them. The consultation and involvement of non-teaching, local individuals on
contextualization and development of local learning and child-suited materials
must be sustained to alleviate teachers.
Provision of adequate and appropriate EGE materials
The request for sufficient, appropriate, ready-made, and contextualized learning
materials and activity worksheets have been an ongoing concern in the EGE.
These materials need to be appropriate to each child’s reading level and pacing
(Albay SDS). This means an on-time delivery with a 1:1 pupil-to-book ratio must
be provided to facilitate the ease of learning and knowledge retention in the
young minds (Naga EPS). These materials are effective if (1) children can hold
these (CS SDS; Naga EPS), such as picture books and big books (Bombon
Prin), and (2) be able to re-read these as often as they would (Naga EPS). The
contextualized instructional materials should go with the reading texts (CS SDS).
The ready references can also be used in remediating slow learners (CS SDS).
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Need for updated language mapping
Some of the categories that Lobel and Tria identified are not recognized by
native speakers. For example, Lobel and Tria categorized the language of
Manito as Central (Table 14), but native speakers label their language as AlbayLegazpi. Native Bula speakers label their language as Bula Rinconada, Placer as
Sibugbuwanon Binisaya, Pilar as Bikol-Pilar, Irosin as Bikol-Irosin, while Castilla uses
Bikol-Sorsogon and Bikol-Albayano. There is a need to clarify whether the
languages identified by Lobel and Tria and the ones mentioned by the respondents
are the same, but with different labels, or are different from each other—especially
since a living language continues to evolve.
Make the LR portal user-friendly
The difficulty of looking up materials in the portal discourages teachers from using it
despite the availability of updated resources. The teacher from Baao suggested that
resources on the LR portal be arranged in a folder with labels by level and subjects.
Another option is to train teachers on how to access and download material from the
LR portal.
Re-orient parents of the purpose of MTB-MLE
Parents are the closest persons to the learners and supporters of teachers and the
schools. Some parents’ reluctance over the use of MT in instruction must be
addressed to get their full support. The schools may conduct an orientation session for
parents on the importance of teaching MT to EGE learners.
Harness wide stakeholder base
DepEd can provide a set of priorities which the stakeholders can focus on. For
instance, in developing IMs, DepEd can engage educators to create a guide for
storytelling (for example, word length, beginning sounds); cultural researchers
can identify facts to build stories on for contextualization; linguists can contribute
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
to the validation and review of the language; while stakeholders who offer cash can
provide funding for production and reproduction of materials or other in-kind
support (such as venue rental). CSOs such as the Kiwanis Club, which do not limit the
kind of support they can offer, can focus their support on programs that will be identified
in the future.
In developing IMs, more avenues for multisectoral and multidiscipline collaboration
should be available. This can be realized through writeshops or conferences
where linguists, cultural researchers, and teachers contribute to MT-related
matters. DepEd or the ABC+ project can support the reproduction and distribution of
LMs for reading for schools that do not have an allotted budget for this purpose (CS
EPS; CS SDS).
Engaging stakeholders
Respondents recommended the following to engage stakeholders:
Find alternative ways to invite stakeholders. Stakeholders can be asked to
support the school through dialogue, such as individual conversation and
stakeholders’ meetings, and/or sending a written letter of intent (Buhi and Tigaon
Prin). Through these efforts, stakeholders will be encouraged to provide financial
support to schools, particularly for reproducing modules and repairing and
repainting school facilities, such as chairs and buildings (Goa and Iriga Prin).
Another way of engaging stakeholders is by exhausting the available online
platforms, for example, social media, to promote/market the school to potential
stakeholders, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides school promotion,
increased awareness, and collaboration among stakeholders, documenting recent
project activities on an official Facebook page could provide valuable recognition
of existing partners’ efforts and support and encourage sustained partnerships
(Bula Principal and Naga City EPS).
Inform tax incentive for Republic Act 8525 or Adopt-a-School Program
through information dissemination drive. The schools should invite business
entities/establishments during orientation and stakeholders’ meetings so that they will
be informed about the 30% tax exemption or tax incentive provided to those who
participate and support DepEd’s Brigada Eskwela (Bula and Pilar Prin).
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Present a detailed and complete project proposal instead of a solicitation letter
to stakeholders. The purpose of the request and budgetary requirements
should be stated in the project proposal to engage private individuals and business
groups in dialogue and partnerships (Tigaon, Castilla, and Prin).
Present up-to-date statistics and data-driven reports to promote
transparency and encourage stakeholder engagement. One can do this by
determining the school’s current status and performance and whether it is highperforming or low-performing. Specifically, the school should be able to (1) show
its best practices, (2) present school report cards and the performance of the K–3
pupils in the National Achievement Test and academic contests, and (3) describe the
challenges that are experienced by pupils in terms of literacy, numeracy, and reading
so that the stakeholders can better grasp the needs and demands of the schools. This
will enable them to provide the appropriate support to the school’s needs (Irosin,
Castilla, Prieto Diaz, and Goa Principals; Albay, Camarines Norte, and Iriga City SDS;
and Naga City and Masbate EPS).
Promote the importance of early grade education through advocacy
programs (Naga City EPS). It is also important to take note that education is
business; thus, stakeholders should see that their support to the school is, in a
way, profitable and worthy (Casiguran Prin; Iriga Prin). Lastly, school heads and
teachers should be passionate about children’s education and learning. They can
exemplify this through actively engaging both the students and community during
school programs, for example, Nutrition Month Celebration, food fair, and others
(Masbate SDS).
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CY_2004_Volume_1_new.pdf
Cabigon, M. (2015, November). State of English in the Philippines: Should we be concerned? https://
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Cajuday, R., & Aguilar, K. (n.d.). Municipality of Caramoran. https://catanduanes.gov.ph/municipalities/
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Cajuday, R., & Aguilar, K. (n.d.). Municipality of Pandan. https://catanduanes.gov.ph/municipalities/
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Cajuday, R., & Aguilar, K. (n.d.). Municipality of San Miguel. https://catanduanes.gov.ph/municipalities/
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phocadownloadpap/userupload/annual_audit_report/LGUs/2012/RegionV/Municipalities/
Camarines-Sur/Bombon_CamSur_ES2012.pdf
Commission on Audit. Annual audit report: Executive summary. (n.d.). https://122.49.208.67/
phocadownloadpap/userupload/annual_audit_report/LGUs/2016/Region- V/Municipalities/
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DepEd (2020, July 24). DepEd provides psychosocial support service for parents, teachers, and nonteaching
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municipalities/72-san-lorenzon-ruiz
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festival/74-palong
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Province of Camarines Norte (Region V - Bicol). (n.d.). http://www.camarinesnorte.gov.ph/index.php/
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ANNEXES
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Table 11. Brief Profile of Sampled Municipalities
1ST CLASS
Aroroy
Aroroy is a first-class coastal municipality on the island province of Masbate. The
town center is situated at approximately 12° 31’ North, 123° 24’ East, on the island
of Masbate (PhilAtlas, 2020). This municipality is bounded by Masbate Pass in the
north, by the Municipality of Baleno in the east, by the Sibuyan Sea in the west,
and by the Municipalities of Milagros and Mandaon in the south (Municipality of
Aroroy, 2014). It has a total population of 86,168 inhabitants, representing 9.66%
of Masbate’s total population, and a land area of 440.30 square kilometers, and
a population density of 196 inhabitants per square kilometer (PSA 2015). It is
politically subdivided into 41 barangays, 25 of which are coastal barangays (PSA
n.d.). Accessing the municipality can be done by sea through Aroroy seaport or by
land through Aroroy-Baleno road or Aroroy-Mandaon road. Common agricultural
products found in Aroroy are upland rice, corn, peanuts, tobacco, coconuts,
bananas, fruit trees, and root crops (Municipality of Aroroy, 2014).
Buhi
Buhi is a first-class landlocked municipality in the fifth district of Camarines Sur
province (Municipality of Buhi, n.d.). The municipal center is situated at
approximately 13° 26’ North, 123° 31’ East, on the island of Luzon. It is bound on
the west by Iriga City, Camarines; on the south-southwest by Polangui, Albay;
on the east by Tiwi, Albay; and on the north by Sagnay-Buhi mountain ranges
(PhilAtlas 2020). It is politically subdivided into 38 barangays. The municipality
has a total land area of 246.65 square kilometers, which accounted for 4.49 percent
of the province’s total area (Municipality of Buhi, n.d.). Of the 38 barangays,
Santa Justina, with a population of 6,014 in 2015, is the only urban area in
the municipality (PSA n.d.). The municipality is famous for Lake Buhi, which is
recognized as one of the lakes in the region with important freshwater ponds
(National and Economic Development Authority, 2018). This unique tropical lake
with an area of 18 square kilometers and a maximum depth of 18.2 meters serves
as the home of the world’s smallest commercial fish, locally called sinarapan. Apart
from the fishery, Lake Buhi is used for navigation, water reservoir for irrigation,
hydroelectric power, and domestic water supply (International Lake Environment
Committee 2009). In the 2015 census, the municipality of Buhi recorded a
population of 77,143. The population density of Buhi is 313 inhabitants per square
kilometer or 810 inhabitants per square kilometers (PSA 2015). This population
represented 3.95 percent of the total population of Camarines Sur and 1.33 percent
of the total population of the region (Municipality of Buhi n.d.).
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1ST CLASS
Daet
Daet is a first class coastal municipality and the capital town and center of trade
and commerce in the province of Camarines Norte. In 2015, the municipality
registered a total population of 104,799 inhabitants with a population density of
2,300 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is politically subdivided into 25
barangays (Province of Camarines Norte [Region V—Bicol] n.d.). Alawihao,
Camambugan, Gubat, Lang- On, Barangays I, III, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII comprised
the urban area while the remaining barangays comprised the rural area (PSA n.d.)
The municipal center is situated at approximately 14° 7’ North, 122° 57’ East, on
the island of Luzon. Its neighbouring municipalities are Talisay, Basud, Mercedes,
Vinsons, San Vicente, and San Lorenzo Ruiz (PhilAtlas 2020). The municipality has
a total land area of 46.00 square kilometers, the majority of which are categorized
as alienable and disposable lands and forestlands (DILG 2010). Daet is known for
its annual celebration of Pineapple Festival, locally known as Pinyasan, which
is held every June 22 to 26. The festival features the primary cash crop of the
Province, the Queen Formosa Pineapple, known as one of the sweetest varieties
of pineapple. The Pan-Philippine Highway, also known as the Maharlika Highway,
is a 25.5 kilometer road network which linked the town to its 25 barangays and
stretched from the boundary of Daet to the Camarines Norte-Camarines Sur
boundary (Province of Camarines Norte (Region V—Bicol) n.d.). The municipality
of Daet ranked as the 17th most competitive municipality in the 2016 ranking of
cities and municipalities in the Philippines using the Cities and Municipalities
Competitiveness Index (CMCI) survey (Department of Trade and Industry 2018).
Pilar
Pilar is a first-class coastal municipality in the province of Sorsogon. The municipal
center is located at approximately 12° 55’ North, 123° 40’ East, on the island of
Luzon (PhilAtlas 2020). Its neighboring municipalities are Donsol, Magallanes, and
Castilla in Sorsogon Province and Jovellar in Albay Province. The municipality
has a total land area of 248 square kilometers with a population density of 301
inhabitants per square kilometer. Based on the 2015 Census, the municipality
recorded a total population of 74,564 inhabitants representing 9.4% of Sorsogon’s
total population (PSA 2015). As of June 30, 2020, Pilar has 49 barangays, 13 of
which are considered coastal barangays (PSA n.d.). The area’s landscape extends
from plain to hilly and mountainous. The plain and coastal plains in the area are
used as settlements and irrigated rice lands, while the hilly lands and highlands are
used for coconut, upland agriculture, and other forestland uses. The municipality’s
agricultural economy relies deliberately on coconut, a crop cultivated and planted
in more than 70 percent of the total land area. This makes the municipality of
Pilar the leading supplier of copra in the coconut milling industry in the region
(Municipality of Pilar 2019). Other local livelihoods include rice farming, fishing
and fish culture, and cottage industries.
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1ST CLASS
Polangui
Polangui is a first-class landlocked municipality in the province of Albay. Its
town center is situated at approximately 13° 18’ North, 123° 29’ East, on Luzon.
It is bounded by Oas on the south- southeast, Libon on the west, Ligao on the
southeast, Bato on the west-northwest, and Buhi on the north- northeast. The
municipality has a total land area of 145.3 square kilometers that is politically
subdivided into 44 rural barangays. Polangui has a total population of 88,221
with a population density of 607 inhabitants per square kilometer (PSA 2015).
Agriculture, banking, and shopping centers are the three major industries in
Polangui. The main attractions in the municipality include Lake Danao Natural
Park, Highlanders Watering Hole Resort, La Oping Resort (aka Fuerte Resort),
Danny’s Resort, and St. Expeditus Eco-Park. The Pulang Angui Festival, known
before as Oyangui Festival, is a month-long festival celebrated by Polangueños in
June (PSA 2017).
Virac
Virac is a first-class coastal municipality and the capital town and center of trade
and commerce on the island province of Catanduanes. The municipal center of
Virac is situated at approximately 13° 35’ North, 124° 14’ East, on the island of
Catanduanes (Cajuday & Aguilar n.d.). It has a total land area of
152.4 square kilometers with a total population of 73,650 and a total population
density of 483 persons per square kilometer (PSA 2015). Its population
represents 28.22% of the total population of Catanduanes. As of June 30, 2020,
the municipality is politically subdivided into 63 barangays. The barangays of
Concepcion, Danicop, San Roque, Santa Cruz, and Santa Elena are the urban areas
of Virac (PSA n.d.). In 2000, Virac, along with San Andres and Caramoran, was one
of the three leading municipalities in Catanduanes in terms of population size.
Virac, in terms of annual growth rate, was the fastest-growing municipality in the
province, followed by Pandan and Caramoran (PSA 2003). The Virac Port serves
as a gateway to the Catanduanes island alongside San Andres Port. In 2013, the
Department of Transportation started the rehabilitation of Virac Port to provide
better access to goods and services in the province. Roll-on/Roll-off and fast craft
ships are the primary means of transportation for locals and tourists traveling
in and out of the island. In addition, the town accommodates the sole domestic
airport in the province. In 2015, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
initiated the upgrading of the Virac airport terminal facilities. In 2019, Virac notably
ranked 73 in Economic Dynamism, 83 in Infrastructure, and 132 out of 489 in the
overall ranking of first and second-class municipalities in 2019 (DTI n.d.).
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2ND CLASS
Bula
Bula is a second municipal income class in the fifth district of Camarines Sur
province. The town
center is approximately located at 13° 28’ North, 123° 17’ East on Luzon. Its
neighboring municipalities are Baao, Pili, Ocampo, Nabua, and Minalabac
(PhilAtlas 2020). It has a total land area of 167.64 square kilometers with a
population density of 414 inhabitants per square kilometer. Based on the 2015
census, Bula has a total population of 69,430, representing 3.56% of the total
population of Camarines Sur province (PSA n.d.). It is politically subdivided into 33
barangays, 25 of which are situated in lowland areas. The name “Bula” means
“bamboo split” after the bamboo plants growing abundantly along riverbanks,
creeks, and streams. The municipal government of Bula visualizes its municipality
to become the bamboo industry center in Southern Luzon. Alongside bamboo
production, rice production and fishing are primary sources of income of the
households in Bula. In 2019 and 2017, the municipality received the Seal of ChildFriendly Local Governance, the Seal of Good Local Governance in 2018, and the
Performance-Based Incentive Award in 2014 and 2016 (Municipality of Bula n.d.).
Cataingan
Cataingan is a second income class coastal municipality on the island province
of Masbate. It is approximately situated at 12° 0’ North, 123° 60’ East on Masbate.
Its neighboring municipalities are Pio V. Corpus (south-southeast), Placer (southsouthwest), Palamas (north-northwest), Dimasalang (Northwest), and Cawayan
(west-southwest). It has a total land area of 191.64 square kilometers with a
population density of 263 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is politically
subdivided into 36 barangays. Based on the 2015 census, the municipality recorded
a total population of 50,327 (PSA 2015). In 2015, the Department of Transportation
began improving existing facilities at the Cataingan Port. The port serves as a
gateway to the cities of Bogo and Cebu in the province of Cebu, and Almagro,
and Tampulan in the province of Samar. It also provides connectivity to tourism
destinations in Regions 5, 7, and 8 (NEDA n.d.).
Irosin
Irosin is a second income class landlocked inland municipality in the province of
Sorsogon. It is situated at 12° 42’ North, 124° 2’ East on the island of Luzon. It lies
at the foot of Mt. Bulusan, the tail end of the Sierra Madre Mountain Ranges at
Luzon Island’s southern tip. It has a total land area of 14,987 square kilometers.
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Irosin is bounded by Bulusan on the east-northeast, Sta. Magdalena on the
southeast, Matnog on the south-southeast, Juban on the north-northwest, and
Bulan on the west- southwest. It is politically subdivided into 28 barangays, 23 of
which are rural barangays. Its population density is recorded at 378 persons per
square kilometer. Based on PSA (2015), the total population of Irosin is 56,662.
The municipality sees investment potential in agricultural products such as
rice, coconut, commercial crops, and hog and poultry farms. Potential tourism
sites such as natural parks, hot and cold springs, viewing areas, and historical
landmarks can also be found in Irosin (The Official Website of Irosin 2012). The
Agta-Cimarron are the indigenous people in Irosin (World Bank 2004).
Jose Panganiban
Jose Panganiban is a second income class coastal municipality in the province of
Camarines Norte. The town center is approximately located at approximately 14°
17’ North, 122° 42’ East, on the island of Luzon (PhilAtlas, 2020). It is bounded in
the north by Mambulao Bay and the Pacific Ocean; in the west by the municipalities
of Capalonga in Camarines Norte; and in the east and southern portion by the
municipalities of Labo and Paracale in Camarines Norte (Official Website of Jose
Panganiban 2013). Jose Panganiban is 40 kilometers away from the capital town
of the province and 17 kilometers away from Maharlika Highway, traversing an
estimated 187.55 kilometers from Metro Manila to the town proper while 90.93
kilometers from Naga City (PhilAtlas, 2020). It has a total land area of 214.44 square
kilometers with a population density of 278 inhabitants per square kilometer. In
2015, the municipality recorded a total population of 59,639, representing 10.22%
of the total population of Camarines Norte province (PSA 2015). Jose Panganiban
is politically divided into 27 barangays (PSA n.d.) The municipality was formerly
known as Mambulao, a word taken from “mambulawan,” meaning bountiful in gold.
From the 18th century to the mid-19th century, Mambulao was a flourishing gold
mining town. On December 1, 1934, the town was renamed to honor Jose Maria
Panganiban, a homegrown hero and one of the famous Filipino propagandists who
wrote La Solidaridad. The town center can be accessed primarily via land travel.
Alternatively, there are available seaports in Barangay Osmeña (International Port
of Jose Panganiban) and Barangay Larap (Port of Larap Bay); and the Larap Airport
that was formerly operated by the Philippine Iron Mines (Province of Camarines
Norte (Region V—Bicol) n.d). At present, there are two special economic zones in
Jose Panganiban: one is situated in Barangay Larap (Official Gazette 2003), and the
other is located in Barangay Osmena.
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Legazpi City
Legazpi City is the Bicol Region’s economic and political center and the capital of
the Province of Albay. It is a second class component city with a dependency rate
of 61%. In the north, it is bounded by Santo Domingo, Daraga in the west,
Manito in the south, and Albay Gulf in the east (Designing Resilience n.d.). Its
center is located at approximately 13° 8’ North, 123° 44’ East, on the island of
Luzon (PhilAtlas 2020). The city’s total land area is 153.70 square kilometers, with
a population density of 1,279 inhabitants per square kilometer. The city registered
a total population of 196,639, representing 14.96% of the total population of Albay
province (PSA 2015). Due to its coastal with hilly type ecosystem that is surrounded
by the Mayon Volcano, an active stratovolcano, the city is vulnerable to natural
hazards such as typhoons and heavy rains, flooding and mudflows, cyclones,
and volcanic and seismic activities. Three typhoons hit the city in 2006, namely
Milenyo, Reming, and Seniang, causing approximately 8 billion damages and
hundreds of deaths. Because of these existing risks, the City Government Unit of
Legazpi through the City Disaster and Coordinating Council implemented disaster
risk reduction and management measures such as no-build zones in areas near
the coasts and within six to eight kilometers of Mt. Mayon; seawall cum boulevard;
planting of mangroves and fruit-bearing trees; establishing of organic gardens; and
rainwater impounding system. In 2016, the city received the first Climate-Adaptive
and Disaster-Resilient (CLAD) Award for Cities and Municipalities given by the
Climate Change Commission. For the most part, 70% of Legazpi is still rural and
agricultural. Despite that, no doubt that the city has undergone fast urbanization
in the last few years. One proof of which is the city being host to the largest airport
in the region (Designing Resilience n.d.).
Placer
Placer is a second class coastal municipality on the island province of Masbate.
The town center is approximately located at 11° 52’ North, 123° 55’ East, on the
island of Masbate. It is bounded by Pio V. Corpuz on the east, Cawayan on the
west-northwest, Cataingan on the north-northeast, Esperanza on the southeast,
and Palanas on the north. The municipality has a total land area of 193.03 square
kilometers and is politically subdivided into 35 rural barangays. Based on the 2015
census, the total population of Placer is55,826 with a population density of 289
inhabitants per square kilometer (PSA 2015). The Masbate-Cataingan-Placer road
connects the RORO terminal system of Cataingan, Masbate City, and Cawayan,
which links to Cebu and Samar Provinces (NEDA, n.d.).
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Baao
Baao is a third class landlocked municipality in the province of Camarines Sur.
Its town center is situated at approximately 13° 27’ North, 123° 22’ East, on the
island of Luzon. Its neighboring city and municipalities are Nabua, Iriga City, Bula,
Bato, Pili, and Ocampo. Its total land area is 106.63 square kilometers that are
politically subdivided into 30 barangays. One of which is an urban barangay. Based on
the 2015 census, the municipality recorded a total population of 58,849 with a
population density of 552 inhabitants per square kilometer (PSA 2015). In 2012, the
municipality was a recipient of the Seal of Good Housekeeping, along with other 12
municipalities in the province (DILG n.d.). Located in Baao is one of the important
freshwater ponds in the region (NEDA n.d.).
Caramoran
Caramoran is a third income class municipality in the province of Catanduanes. It
has a total land area of 25,240 hectares with a population density of 114 persons
per square kilometer. The municipality is located in the northern part of the
island Province of Catanduanes, about a hundred kilometers more or less from
the capital town of Virac. Its municipal center is located approximately at 13° 49’
North, 124° 10’ East, on the island of Luzon (Cajuday & Aguilar, n.d.). The place can
be reached either via sea route or by taking the road from Virac via San Andres or
the Quirino Highway from Payo, Bagamanoc passing Pandan. The municipality is
politically subdivided into 27 barangays with a population density of 114 persons
per square kilometer. Based on the 2015 census, its total population is 23,790 (PSA
2015). In 1906, the municipality was united with Pandan, only to be resurrected
as an independent municipality upon the incessant demand of the Caramoranons
under the leadership of the late Don Camilo Rubio. On August 29, 1948, Caramoran
regained its independence through Executive Order No. 159 issued by the late
President Elpidio Quirino. The town is abundant with rich natural resources
because of its vast agricultural lands and surrounding fishing grounds teeming with
fish and other marine lives.
Castilla
Castilla is a third class municipality in the province of Sorsogon. It is bounded by
Sorsogon City and part of Sorsogon Bay in the east; Pilar, Sorsogon, and Legazpi
in the west; Municipality of Manito, Albay in the north; and Sorsogon in the south.
Based on the 2015 census, Castilla has a total population of 57,827 with 12,111
total households. Thirty-four barangays, three of which are urban and 31 are rural,
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
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comprise Castilla. It has a total land area of 18,620.30 has. (Municipality of Castilla,
n.d.). It has a population density of 311 persons per square kilometer (PSA 2015).
Agriculture significantly contributes to the municipality’s economy (Municipality of
Castilla, n.d.).
Santa Elena
Santa Elena is a third class municipality in the province of Camarines Norte. It is
situated at approximately 14° 11’ North, 122° 24’ East, on the island of Luzon. It
has a total land area of 199.35 square kilometers that is politically subdivided into
19 barangays. It has a total population of 40,786 inhabitants and a population
density of 205 persons per square kilometer (PSA 2015). On June 29, 1969, Santa
Elena became a municipality by virtue of Republic Act 5480, An Act Creating the
Municipality of Santa Elena in the Province of Camarines Norte. Santa Elena was
known before as Ilayang Santol, a small sitio in the barrio of Pulongguit-guit, in the
municipality of Capalonga (Province of Camarines Norte (Region V—Bicol n.d.). In
2019, the municipality of Santa Elena was one of the twenty municipalities listed in
the first batch to have passed the Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping, one of the
major criteria in the Seal of Good Local Governance (Labalan 2019).
Tigaon
Tigaon is a third income class coastal municipality in the province of Camarines
Sur. Its municipal center is located approximately at 13° 38’ North, 123° 30’ East,
on the island of Luzon. It is bounded by the municipalities of Sagnay on the
southeast, Goa on the north, San Jose and Lagonoy on the north- northeast, and
Ocampo on the west-southwest. The municipality is situated in between Mt. Isarog
and Lagonoy Gulf. It is politically subdivided into 23 barangays and has a total land
area of 72.35 square kilometers. The municipality registered a total population
of 55,272 with a total population density of 764 persons per square kilometer
(PSA 2015). Agricultural products, such as rice, sugar cane, abaca, significantly
contribute to the municipality’s economy. Tigaon is also famous for its cottage
industry. The Mt. Isarog Jungle Park and several beach resorts are the main tourist
attractions in the area (The Municipality of Tigaon n.d.). In the 2019 Cities and
Municipalities Competitiveness Index, Tigaon ranked 3rd in overall 3rd to 6th
Class Municipalities. In the individual indicators, the municipality ranked 163rd in
Economic Dynamism, 25th in Government Efficiency, 5th in Infrastructure, and 6th
in Resiliency (DTI, 2019).
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Uson
Uson is a third class coastal municipality on the island province of Masbate. It is
about 42 kilometers southeast of Masbate City and is approximately situated at 12°
14’ North, 123° 47’ East, on the island of Masbate. Uson is bounded by Dimasalang
and Palanas on the east-southeast, Mobo and Masbate City on the northwest,
Batuan on the north, and Milagros on the west. It has a total land area of 163.20
square kilometers that is politically subdivided into 35 rural barangays. Based
on the 2015 census, the municipality recorded a total population of 56,168 with a
population density of 344 persons per square kilometer (PSA 2015). On August 19,
1949, the municipality was inaugurated as an independent municipality (COA n.d.).
4TH CLASS
Balud
A fourth class coastal municipality on the island province of Masbate, the
municipality of Balud is
situated at approximately 12° 2’ North, 123° 12’ East, on the island of Masbate.
Its neighboring municipalities are Mandaon, Milagros, Aroroy, Baleno, and
Mobo in Masbate, and Carles in Iloilo. It has a total land area of 231 square
kilometers that is politically subdivided into 32 barangays. Based on the 2015
census, the municipality recorded a total population of 38,124 inhabitants with
a population density of 165 persons per square kilometer (PSA 2015). It became
an independent municipality in 1949 by virtue of Executive Order No. 242 of the
late President Quirino (Municipality of Balud, n.d.). The municipality of Balud’s
chief contributions to the province of Masbate are corn, rice, fish, and livestock.
Its secondary crops include root crops, coconut, and vegetables. The Parola or
lighthouse, imposing over Jintolo Island, is a historical sight the municipality is
taking pride in. The western coastlines of Balud are indented by white, fine sand
beaches (Municipality of Balud, n.d.). The local government unit of Balud envisions
that in 2030, it becomes an agri- tourism hub of the province.
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Casiguran
Casiguran is a fourth class coastal municipality in the province of Sorsogon. It
is situated approximately at 12° 52’ North, 124° 1’ East, on the island of Luzon.
It is bounded by Juban on the southwest, Sorsogon City on the north, Gubat on
the east-northeast, and Barcelona on the east. Casiguran has a total land area of
87.13 square kilometers with a population density of 377 inhabitants per square
kilometer. Based on the 2015 census, the total population of the municipality is
32,842 (PSA 2015). The municipality has rural 25 barangays. Farming and fishing
are the primary sources of its inhabitants.
Iriga City
Iriga City is a fourth income class city in the province of Camarines Sur. Its center
is approximately located at 13° 25’ North, 123° 25’ East, on the island of Luzon. The
city is settled at the foot of Mount Iriga, a stratovolcano, 4,823 feet above sea level.
It is bounded by Nabua on the west-southwest, Baao on the northwest, Bato on the
southwest, and Buhi on the East. It has a total land area of 174 square kilometers.
Based on the 2015 census, the city recorded a total population of 111,757 (PSA
2015). The city is politically subdivided into 36 barangays. The city is accessible
only by land transportation via Philippine-Japanese Friendship Highway. Farming
is the primary source of livelihood of its residents. The city is tagged as an
“educational mecca” in the Rinconada area and neighboring municipalities in Albay
because of the presence of two (2) universities, two (2) colleges, eight (8) technical
vocational education schools, thirteen (13) privately owned secondary schools,
seventeen (17) elementary schools, forty (40) public elementary and thirteen (13)
secondary schools. Additionally, the city has natural tourist spots, including Mt.
Asog (Mt. Iriga), Iliyan Hills at San Nicolas, Tubigan, and Sabang Falls at Sta. Maria,
and San Pedro and Sagrada Falls (Iriga City, Camarines Sur - Region V, n.d.).
Manito
Manito is a fourth income class coastal municipality in the province of Albay. It is
situated approximately at 13° 7’ North, 123° 52’ East, on the island of Luzon. It is
bounded by Legazpi City and Daraga, Albay on the west, Santo Domingo, Albay on
the Northwest, and Castilla, Sorsogon on the south. The municipality has a total
land area of 107.40 square kilometers and a population density of 230 persons per
square kilometer. In the 2015 census, the municipality recorded a total population
of 24,707 (PSA 2015). Manito is politically subdivided into 15 barangays. Barangay
It-ba is the only urban area in the municipality. The major source of livelihood in
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the municipality is agriculture. The municipality’s main attractions include NagAso Boiling Lake, Muladbucad Beach, Parong Hot Spring, Mud Pool, and Mangrove
Plantation. Manito ranked second in the economic dynamism in the 2016 most
competitive municipalities (DTI, 2016).
Pandan
Pandan is a fourth income class coastal municipality on the island province of
Catanduanes. Its municipal center is approximately situated at 14° 3’ North,
124° 10’ East, on the island of Catanduanes. Its neighboring municipalities are
Caramoran, Bagamanoc, Panganiban, Viga, and Gigmoto. It has a total land area
of 119.90 square kilometers. The municipality is politically subdivided into 26
barangays with 20,516 inhabitants (PSA 2015). The name of Pandan was derived
from pandan shrubs, which was believed to be abundant in the area then and
protected the inhabitants from Moro pirates who used to invade Poblacion
(Cajuday and Aguilar n.d.).
Talisay
Talisay is a fourth income class municipality in the province of Camarines Norte. It is
approximately situated at 14° 8’ North, 122° 56’ East, on the island of Luzon. It
is bounded by Daet on the southeast, Vinzons on the north-northwest, San Vicente
on the west, southwest, and Basud on the south- southeast. The municipality is
politically subdivided into 15 barangays. It has a total land area of 30.76 sq. km.
with a population density of 840 inhabitants per sq. km. PSA (2015) recorded a
total population of 25,841 individuals. Rice and coconut farming, and fishing are the
primary sources of livelihood in the municipality. In 1901, Talisay was part of
Indan, now known as Vinzons. In 1908, Talisay regained its identity as a distinct
municipality.
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
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Batuan
Batuan is a fifth class coastal municipality on the island province of Masbate. The
center of the municipality is situated at approximately 12° 25’ North, 123° 47’ East,
on the island of Ticao. Its neighboring municipalities are San Fernando and San
Jacinto on the north-northwest, Mobo on the southwest, and Uson on the south. It
has a total land area of 56.28 square kilometers that is politically subdivided into
14 rural barangays. Based on the 2015 census, the municipality’s total population is
15,086, with a population density of 268 persons per square kilometer. (PSA 2015).
Batuan became one of the finalists for the Best Mangrove Award in 2019 (City
Government of Masbate 2019).
Bombon
Bombon is a fifth class landlocked municipality in the province of Camarines Sur.
Its town center is located at approximately 13° 41’ North, 123° 12’ East, on the
island of Luzon. Its neighboring city and municipalities are Calabanga, Magarao,
Canaman, Camaligan, and Naga City. Its total land area is 28.73 square kilometers.
Based on the 2015 census, the total population of the municipality is 16,512,
with a population density of 575 inhabitants per square kilometer. It started as a
small barangay of the Municipality of Magarao. Bombon became an independent
municipality on July 27, 1949, by virtue of Executive Order No. 251 of the late
President Quirino. It is the second smallest town in Camarines Sur with eight
barangays only. (Executive Summary n.d.).
Prieto Diaz
Prieto Diaz is also a fifth class coastal municipality in the province of Sorsogon.
The municipal center is located at approximately 13° 2’ North, 124° 12’ East, on
the island of Luzon. It is bounded by Gubat and Barcelona in Sorsogon on the
south-southwest, Rapu-Rapu, Albay on the north-northwest, Casiguran, Sorsogon
on the southwest, and Sorsogon City on the west-southwest. It has a total land
area of 49.07 square kilometers that is politically subdivided into 23 barangays.
Based on the 2015 census, the municipality recorded a total population of 22,442
with a population density of 457 inhabitants per square kilometer (PSA 2015).
Farming and fishing are the thriving livelihoods in Prieto Diaz. In order to increase
the agricultural production in Prieto Diaz, the Ibingan Small Reservoir Irrigation
Project was implemented in 2015. The Agta-Tabangnon tribe is the indigenous
people community found in Prieto Diaz (World Bank, 2004).
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LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
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San Lorenzo Ruiz
San Lorenzo Ruiz, formerly known as Imelda, is a fifth income class landlocked
municipality in the province of Camarines Norte. It is approximately situated at 14°
2’ North, 122° 52’ East, on the island of Luzon. Its neighbouring municipalities are
San Vicente, Basud, Talisay, and Daet. With a total land area of
119.37 sq. km., San Lorenzo Ruiz is politically subdivided into 12 barangays only.
Based on the 2015 census, the municipality has a total population of 14,063
inhabitants. In 1989, the name of the municipality was changed in honor of the
first Filipino Saint who is the patron saint of its parish. The Matacong Zipline, a
750 meters long and longest zipline in the Bicol Region, is one of the tourist spots
found in the municipality. Other tourist attractions include five waterfalls located in
Barangays of Maisog and San Isidro and the Mampurog River that is suitable for
canyoning and river trekking (PCN, 2018).
San Miguel
San Miguel is a fifth income class landlocked municipality on the island province
of Catanduanes. It is approximately situated at 13° 41’ North, 124° 15’ East, on the
island of Catanduanes (Cajuday & Aguilar, n.d.). Its neighbouring municipalities
are Bato, Baras, Virac, Gigmoto, and San Andres. It has a total land area of 129.94
sq. km. The municipality is politically subdivided into 24 barangays. Based on the
2015 census, it has recorded a total population of 15,006 (PSA 2015). The tourist
destinations that can be found in the municipality are the San Miguel River Park,
Solong Fall, and Bontahiya Falls.
San Vicente
San Vicente is a fifth class landlocked municipality in the province of Camarines
Norte. It is situated at approximately 14° 6’ North, 122° 52’ East, on the island
of Luzon. It is bounded by Talisay on the east- northeast, Labo on the northwest,
San Lorenzo Ruiz on the south, Vinzons on the north-northeast, and Daet on the
east. It has a total land area of 57.49 sq. km. that is politically subdivided into nine
barangays only. Based on the 2015 census, the total population of the municipality
is 10,396 with a population density of 181 inhabitants per sq. km. The municipality
is the least populous municipality in the province. The Mananap Falls, which is
approximately 20-25 feet tall waterfalls located within the thick forest of San
Vicente, is the primary tourist spot found in the municipality.
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Santa Magdalena
Santa Magdalena is a fifth class coastal municipality in the province of Sorsogon.
Its center is located approximately at 12° 39’ North, 124° 6’ East, on the island of
Luzon. Its neighboring municipalities are Matnog, Irosin, Bulusan, Sorsogon City,
and Bulan in Sorsogon, and Allen in Northern Samar. The municipality has a total
land area of 43.50 square kilometers. It is politically subdivided into 14 barangays.
13 of which are coastal barangays. Santa Magdalena recorded a total population of
16,848 in 2015 with a population density of 387 inhabitants per square kilometer
(PSA 2015). Ninety-seven percent of the population speaks Bicol, 28 percent speaks
Bisaya, 41 percent speaks Waray, and 0.71 percent of the inhabitants are Tagalogspeaking (Sta. Magdalena Population n.d.). Santa Magdalena is known for its coves
and beaches.
Table 12. Average SEF of Sampled Municipalities, Cities, and Province, 2009–16
MUNICIPAL CLASS/SAMPLED MUNCIPALITIES,
CITIES, & PROVINCE
87
AVERAGE SEF (2009–16)
PHP, MILLIONS
1st Class
1.825
Aroroy
7.980
Daet
3.893
Polangui
1.740
Virac
3.014
Buhi
1.198
Pilar
0.468
2nd Class
0.962
Jose Panganiban
2.353
Irosin
1.120
Goa
0.910
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPAL CLASS/SAMPLED MUNCIPALITIES,
CITIES, & PROVINCE
88
AVERAGE SEF (2009–16)
PHP, MILLIONS
Placer
0.681
Bula
0.598
Caramoan
0.558
Cataingan
0.513
3rd Class
0.577
Castilla
0.836
Tigaon
0.730
Sta. Elena
0.679
Baao
0.503
Uson
0.463
Caramoran
0.251
4th Class
0.530
Talisay
0.828
Manito
0.740
Casiguran
0.627
Pandan
0.287
Balud
0.169
5th Class
0.433
Bombon
0.735
SanVicente
0.542
Prieto Diaz
0.408
Batuan
0.381
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPAL CLASS/SAMPLED MUNCIPALITIES,
CITIES, & PROVINCE
AVERAGE SEF (2009–16)
PHP, MILLIONS
San Miguel
0.289
San Lorrenzo Ruiz
0.240
Sta. Magdalena
0.329
Table 13. Detailed Programs and Projects Financed by SEF in
Sampled Municipalities and Cities by Income Class, 2020
MUNICIPALITY/
CITY
PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS FINANCED BY LSB
1st Class
Aroroy
•
•
•
•
89
School buildings beautification
Teaching assistants’ honoraria
School bags, supplies, and books to daycare up to primary
levels
Construction of senior high school building
Buhi
•
•
•
•
•
•
Provincial Meet
Recently, Internet assistance and modular IMs
Photocopying machines
Radio
Repair of school buildings
Construction (e.g., a hanging bridge connecting one school
building to the next)
Daet
•
•
•
•
•
•
Repair and maintenance
Facilities and equipment
Funding for zone, district, cluster, and provincial meet
Trainings and seminars for ECCD teachers
Funding for Madrasah subjects
Honorarium of non-DepEd personnel
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPALITY/
CITY
PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS FINANCED BY LSB
Pilar
•
•
•
•
•
•
Virac
•
•
•
•
Supplies
Sports development
ICT support
Learning materials
Teachers’ training
1.4 million
Materials, transportation, and snacks for Alternative Learning
System (ALS)
School materials
Feeding
Sports
2nd Class
Bula
•
•
•
•
Cataingan
•
•
Irosin
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
90
Sports development activities (e.g., Palarong Bicol)
Repair, wash, and wins facilities (water, sanitation, hygiene
facility)
Reading program/ centers where the school board purchases
books
Competitions (e.g., academic contests, Search for
Outstanding Administrator and Teachers)
Copier for module reproduction
Repair of school buildings and facilities
ECCD program – enrolled 1,287 pre-school
Enrolled 9,580 elementary students
Enrolled 36 students in SPED
Enrolled 4,951 high school students
Provided 50 college scholarships
Provided 16 locally-funded teachers
Provided for ALS
Funded training for 83 school heads and teachers re K-12
implementation
Awarded 3 elementary schools for Gulayan sa Paaralan
National Greening Program
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPALITY/
CITY
Irosin
PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS FINANCED BY LSB
•
•
•
•
•
•
Jose Panganiban
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Legazpi City
•
•
•
•
•
Naga City
•
•
•
91
Monitored the implementation of Breakfast Feeding Program
which resulted to decrease in severely wasted pupils from 188
to 47 in the District
Administered the School Readiness Assessment to incoming
Grade 1 pupils
Maintained schools
Maintained the Community eCenter at the Municipal Public
Library
Conducted sports competitions and intramurals
Funded participation to district, sectoral, provincial,
regional, and national meets
Repair and maintenance of school buildings and facilities
Assistance with supplies and materials
Water and Electricity
Travel Expenses of school heads representing educationrelated agenda
Seminars and Trainings
Scholarship programs
ALS
Sports
Construction of CR, air conditioning in computer schools,
purchase of computers in far-flung, Hardware like capital
expenditures, computers, and software
Daycare
Trainers and Trainings for teachers
Strengthening the quality education, like English proficiency,
mathematics, science, and other technologies
Funds the development of the Division Local Heritage matrix
and the Division Contextualized Competencies Matrix (These
are templates of the culture found in a locality. Teacherresearchers were deployed in the barangays to look into the
stories, artifacts, building, persons, practices that form part
the culture and tradition of Naga City)
Fund for research
Purchase and print supplementary books for MTB-MLE
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPALITY/
CITY
PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS FINANCED BY LSB
3rd Class
Caramoran
•
•
Books
School’s water system and CR
Castilla
•
•
•
•
Maintenance and repair of school building
Information Communication Technology (ICT) e.g., desktop,
printer
Materials for Special Education (SPED)
Materials, transportation, and snacks for Alternative Learning
System (ALS)
Construction
Research
Training of pupils
Support to ALS,
Support to SPED
Sports, but with Covid-19, this was suspended. The LSB
budget for the purchase of sports equipment
District, zonal, and provincial activities, such as athelets’
food, uniform, vehicle rental.
Honorarium to kindergarden teachers
Module preparation
Sta. Elena
•
Paint for the school
Tigaon
•
•
Improvement of literacy and numeracy
Improvement of school facilities
Uson
•
•
•
Feeding program
Materials for construction
Teachers’ incentives
•
•
Sports
Improvement of facilities
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
4th Class
Casiguran
92
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPALITY/
CITY
PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS FINANCED BY LSB
Iriga
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Repair of school buildings destroyed by the typhoon
Brigada Eskwela
Sports/Palaro
Academic/Non-Academic contest
Production of Modules
Acquisition/procurement of books, instructional materials
Acquisition of IT equipment and materials
ALS
Boyscouts
Teachers’ incentives: honorarium training
Education research
ECCD program
Manito
•
•
Provision of equipment – television
Program for Grades 1-3
Pandan
•
Provincial Meet
Talisay
•
•
•
Repairs of buildings
Financial assistance to school who won the “Best Brigada
Implementer”
This year it this was realigned to module development
Batuan
•
•
•
Scouting/Provincial jamboree
Rodeo Festivals (e.g., costume and choreographer)
Repairs
San Lorenzo
Ruiz
•
•
•
•
•
Daycare
Nutrition program for K-3
Supplies
Sports
Construction of school infrastructure
5th Class
93
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPALITY/
CITY
PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS FINANCED BY LSB
San Miguel
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Repairs and maintenance – classrooms, school building
Purchase of equipment (e.g. printers)
Sports development
Office/school supplies
Construction of school pathways
Hand washing facilities
Chairs, and tables (for the feeding program)
San Vicente
•
•
•
•
•
Repair of classrooms
Provision of school supplies: notebooks, papers, etc.
Provision of reading materials and books
Focused on daycare
Funds participation to scouting and other regional activities
Talisay
•
Procure materials, books, and supplementary big books.
Province
Camarines Norte •
Camarines Sur
Catanduanes
Sorsogon
94
Teacher aides for Kindergarten with 25 and above students
with 4K monthly salary
•
•
•
Teachers’ training
Procurement of materials
Support to students and teachers on attendance to national
schools conference and the national festival of talents
•
•
Photocopying machines for the production of the learning
materials.
Ink for the production of materials.
•
•
Palaro
Repair of school buildings
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
95
Table 14. Sample Schools and their Respective Languages
PROVINCE
MUNICIPALITY/
CITY
1
Polangui
Matacon ES
Southern Coastal West Miraya
and Inland Bikol
4
Manito
Kawit ES
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Central
Eastern
Standard
1
Daet (capital)
Anita V.
Romero ES
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Central
Daet
2
Jose
Panganiban
Larap ES
3
Santa Elena
Bulala ES
Tagalog
4
Talisay
San Isidro ES
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Central
Daet
5
San Vicente
L. Opeda ES
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Central
Daet
1
Buhi
Amlongan ES
Southern Coastal Buhi
and Inland Bikol
2
Bula
Sto. Niño IS
Southern Coastal Rinconada
and Inland Bikol
Nabua
2
Caramoan
Elementary
School
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Naga
SCHOOL
Albay
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP)
Camarines
Norte
Camarines
Sur
LANGUAGE
CLASS
MAIN BRANCH
DIALECT
SUBDIALECT VARIATION
Tagalog
Central
North
Sorsogon
96
PROVINCE
Camarines
Sur
CLASS
MUNICIPALITY/
CITY
2
Goa
Magsalay ES
2
3
LANGUAGE
MAIN BRANCH
DIALECT
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Partido
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Central
Naga
Don Manuel
I Abella
Central
School
Tigaon
San Miguel
ES
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Partido
Rinconada
SUBDIALECT VARIATION
Naga
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP)
3
Baao
Ikpan ES
Southerm
Coastal and
Inland Bikol
4
City of Iriga
Cawayan ES
Southern Coastal Rinconada
and Inland Bikol
Iriga
5
Bombon
Sto. Domingo
ES
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Central
Naga
1
Virac
Virac CES
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
South
Catanduanes
Virac
5
San Miguel
San Miguel
CES
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Central
South
Catanduanes
1
Aroroy
Aroroy East
Bisacol
Masbatenyo
Standard
Masbatenyo
Catanduanes
Masbate
SCHOOL
Nabua
San
Miguel
97
PROVINCE
Masbate
Sorsogon
LANGUAGE
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP)
CLASS
MUNICIPALITY/
CITY
2
Placer
Taboc ES
Cebuano
3
Uson
Paguihaman
ES
Bisacol
4
Balud
Ilaya ES
Ilonggo
5
Batuan
Batuan CS
Bisacol
1
Pilar
Lumbang ES
Southern Coastal East Miraya
and Inland Bikol
2
Irosin
Carriedo ES
3
Castilla
Sogoy ES
4
Casiguran
Inlagadian ES
5
Prieto Diaz
Quidolog ES
SCHOOL
MAIN BRANCH
DIALECT
SUBDIALECT VARIATION
Masbatenyo
Standard
Masbatenyo
Masbatenyo
Ticao Island
Southeast
Bisacol
Southern
Sorsogon
Bisacol
Central
Sorsogon
Sorsogon,
Castilla
Bisacol
Central
Sorsogon
Casiguran,
Juban
North Coastal
Standard Bikol
Central
North
Sorsogon
Table 15. Challenges, Efforts Undertaken, and Ongoing Interventions in Literacy by
Classification of Languages
CHALLENGES
EFFORTS UNDERTAKEN/ ONGOING INTERVENTIONS
Language & Municipalities: (1) SCIB [Bula, Iriga, Pilar]; (2) Bik [Bombon,
Manito, Naga, San Miguel, San Vicente, Talisay, Tigaon]; (3) Bsc [Batuan,
Casiguran, Castilla, Irosin, Uson]; (4) Tagalog [Sta. Elena]; (5) Cebuano
[Placer]; (6) Ilongo [Balud]
Insufficient materials – no
textbook & workbook in MT for
kindergarten [Bombon, Bula,
Caramoan, Camarines Norte,
Camarines Sur, Casiguran,
Castilla, Naga City, Tigaon]
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
98
The Division Office encouraged teacherwriters to produce Mnasbate text books
[Masbate EPS]
The Division Office produced teacher-made
story books but are still being subjected for
quality assurance [Masbate EPS]
The Division Office redeveloped Grade 2
textbooks teacher-made story books but are
still being subjected for quality assurance
[Masbate EPS]
Supervisor monitored school on how
principals conduct classroom observation;
principals ensured completeness of devices
used [CN EPS].
Schools provided/allotted time for teachers
through LAC session to create IMs and make
contextualized materials
Schools provided the bond papers, printer
ink, printing materials, printer with
photocopier using MOOE
Schools audited books to be used as basis on
the release of books by DepEd
Teachers prepared & contextualized the IMs;
printed or photocopied worksheets [Naga]
Teachers used more resilient IMs like
tarpaulin [Caramoan]
Teachers downloaded what others had
shared or used LRMDS (seldom) and printed
these e.g. stories with moral lesson
Teachers provided all students with reading
materials [Bula]
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
CHALLENGES
Lacking MOOE budget to
reproduce LMs [Albay, Bula,
Caramoan, Naga]; Lack of AV
equipment
EFFORTS UNDERTAKEN/ ONGOING INTERVENTIONS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Division partnered with LGUs and other
stakeholders to reproduce materials.
The school prioritized purchase of toys for
Kindergarten. Grade 3 were taught how to
make localized materials [San Miguel].
Schools put up official Facebook site
as platform to solicit needed materials
[Caramoan]
Teachers made DIY play materials like blocks
and letter bingo for kindergarten [Bula]
Teachers provided fast learners with
printed materials/books; slow learners with
flashcards
Teachers downloaded what others had
shared and printed a few or one copy only if
for one-on-one reading
Teachers requested PTA, alumni association,
and friends for a materials reproduction
project [Sta. Elena]
Teachers used own resources [Caramoan]
Language & Municipalities: (1) SCIB [Bula, Iriga, Pilar]; (2) Bik [Bombon, Daet,
Manito, Naga, San Miguel, San Vicente, Talisay, Tigaon]; (3) Bsc [Batuan,
Casiguran, Castilla, Irosin, Uson]; (4) Tagalog [Sta. Elena]; (5) Cebuano
[Placer];
No standard reading test for
Grades 1-3
•
The CN and Sorsogon SDOs prepared a
customized materials and tool for reading for
Grades 1-3.
Language & Municipalities: (1)Bik [Bombon; Manito; Naga; San Miguel; San
Vicente; Talisay; Tigaon]; (2) Cebuano [Placer]
Inappropriate textbook
[Camarines Norte, Naga, Pilar]
• Words become longer in Bikol
• Difficult for early grade levels
• A different dialect/language
was used, e.g. Uson had Albay
• Pictures used were
inappropriate to the language
spoken
99
•
•
•
•
Teachers contextualized the IMs
Textbooks distributed by DepEd Central were
no longer used.
Teachers explained to students about the
inconsistency between pictures and words
[Placer]
Textbooks distributed were no longer used
[Placer].
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
CHALLENGES
EFFORTS UNDERTAKEN/ ONGOING INTERVENTIONS
Language & Municipalities: (1) SCIB [Bula, Iriga, Pilar]; (2) Bik [Bombon, Daet,
Manito, Naga, San Miguel, San Vicente, Talisay, Tigaon]; (3) Tagalog [Jose
Panganiban, Sta. Elena]
Slow readers and non-readers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Division initiated the Operasyon Basa at
Bilang [CN SDS]
The Division customized tools and materials
for reading [CN SDS]
During management committee meetings,
schools reported initiatives taken to address
this challenge [CN EPS]
PSDS Camarines Sur launched the Project
Ins2Pire (Intensive Strategies in Sustaining
Pupils’ Interest in Reading)
Supervisor reproduced reading materials
intended for lower grade and higher grades
and distributed these to the supervisor’s
adopted schools [CN EPS]
Schools conduct remedial reading [Bula, CN
EPS]
Teachers held reading session with “mystery
reader [Sta. Elena]
Teachers tapped higher-level students to
peer-tutor lower-level students [Pilar]
Language & Municipalities: (1) Bik [Bombon, Daet, Manito, Naga, San Miguel,
San Vicente, Talisay, Tigaon]; (2) Tagalog [Jose Panganiban, Sta. Elena]
Limited remote learning modules
and modalities available to
poor households: no internet
connectivity; no cell phone [Sta.
Elena; Albay PSDS]
The Polangui Mayor set up a local radio station
with frequency within the municipality as
host for blended, modular, and radio-based
instruction delivery [Albay]
Cases of assigned teachers with
different MT
No action taken.
Language & Municipalities: (1) Bsc [Batuan]; (2) Ilongo [Balud]
Absence of standardized
orthography
100
The Division Office conducted seminars and
training to provide feedback on measures taken
[Masbate EPS]
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
CHALLENGES
EFFORTS UNDERTAKEN/ ONGOING INTERVENTIONS
Language & Municipalities: (1) Bik [Bombon; Manito; Naga; San Miguel;
San Vicente; Talisay; Tigaon];
No face-to-face learning in
SY 2020-2021
Divisions Office coached principals on
simulating of Remote Learning Modular which
should be held on August 4-8, 2020 [Albay].
Limitation of teachers’ role in
remote learning delivery
Divisions Office instructed schools on the
conduct the orientation of parents and teaching
them about beginning reading on July 27 to 31,
2020 [Albay].
Inconsistency of MT taught with
the questions during contests
(English)
No action taken.
Time constraint and taxing
for teachers in preparing IMs
especially to teachers in selfcontained classes [Camarines
Norte]
No action taken.
Multiple preparations burdened
by the teacher when there are
students who migrated from
another place
No action taken.
Language & Municipalities: (1) SCIB [Bula, Iriga, Pilar]; (2) NLT
[Caramoran, Pandan]
Congested curriculum and
overlapping of activities
DepEd Order No. 12 s. 2020 on streamlining
the K to 12 curriculum into the most essential
learning competencies (MELCs) partly addressed this
issue
Language & Municipalities: SCIB [Bula, Iriga, Pilar]
Anxiety of parents on MT as LOI
101
Teachers talked to and counseled the parents
during home visitation
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Table 16. Challenges, Efforts Undertaken, and Ongoing Interventions in Numeracy by
Classification of Languages
CHALLENGES
EFFORTS UNDERTAKEN/ ONGOING INTERVENTIONS
Language & Municipalities: (1) SCIB [Bula, Iriga, Pilar]; (2) Bik [Bombon, Daet,
Manito, Naga, San Miguel, San Vicente, Talisay, Tigaon]; (3) Tagalog [Jose
Panganiban, Sta. Elena]; (4) Bsc [Batuan; Casiguran; Castilla; Irosin; Uson]
No assessment tool on
mathematics
•
The Division made quality-assured
contextualized DLP with periodical test
questions
•
The Division initiated the Operasyon Basa at
Bilang [CN SDS]
•
The Division Offices of Camarines Norte and
Sorsogon customized tools and materials in
numeracy for Grades 1-6 [CN SDS]
Language & Municipalities: (1) SCIB [Bula, Iriga, Pilar]; (2) Bsc [Batuan;
Casiguran; Castilla; Irosin; Uson]
Inappropriate MT (Bikol Naga)
used in Math books
•
•
Math items are difficult to
contextualize: Children find
it difficult to understand
the technical terms, e.g.
multiplication, pupils are more
familiar in counting using
English; lack of orthography
•
•
•
Teachers translated/contextualized the
materials to Bikol Sorsogon; teachers
prepared for IMs daily [Pilar]
Teachers conducted research of learning
resource [Pilar]
Initially, teachers tended to code-switch or
used a combination of languages
Teachers invited elderly to demonstrate how
to count in Masbateño
Teachers retained the English technical terms
Language & Municipalities: SCIB [Bula, Iriga, Pilar]
Books in MT have limited
exercises and activities Math
items in MT are difficult to
memorize, e.g. multiplication
table
102
•
Division Office conducted MTB MLE training
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
CHALLENGES
EFFORTS UNDERTAKEN/ ONGOING INTERVENTIONS
Language & Municipalities: Bik [Bombon, Manito, Naga, San Miguel, San
Vicente, Talisay, Tigaon]
No face-to face learning during
SY 2020-2021
•
•
•
Lack of reading materials in
numeracy
•
•
•
The Division Office provided self-learning
modules where instructions were made easy
The DepEd through the LRMDS provided
training to teachers on the development of
interactive learning materials, e.g. use of
Kotobee, Book Widget, Canva, Moodle, etc.
Students will be provided with video lessons
through the DepEd Commons
Realignment of SEF to procure
supplementary reading materials.
The Division customized tools to determine
non-numerates [CS SDS]
The supervisors give teachers and school
heads orientation, updates, and feedback on
how to handle issues on numeracy [CS SDS]
Language & Municipalities: Tagalog [Jose Panganiban, Sta. Elena]
Legend:
SCIB – Southern Coastal and Inland Bikol
Bik – North Coastal Standard Bikol
NCt – Northern Catanduanes
Bsc - Bisacol
103
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Table 17. Support by Type of Organization and Municipal Class
MUNICIPAL
CLASS
TYPE OF
ORGANIZATION
SUPPORT
1st Class
Aroroy
Corporations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Buhi
Daet
104
Civic
Organization,
International
Organization,
Non-Government
Institution,
Private
Individuals,
School- based
Organizations
•
Civic
Organization,
Government
Agency,
Education
Institution
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Distributed bags and umbrella to learners and
teachers
Allocated funding for meals during seminars
and conferences
Provided financial assistance worth ( PHP
400,000) for the Regional Chorale Competition
Mangrove planting
Provided livelihood opportunities to
communities
Construction of school buildings and churches
Skills development program and health
services
Construction of Early Child Educational
Center with Kitchen and CR
School Buildings
Feeding program
Rice
Used clothing
School supplies
Construction of day care center
Honorarium for the day-care worker and
building maintenance
PHP 1M as part of the Performance Challenge
Fund for Local Government Units (PC Fund)
Feeding program
Construction and repair of Edu-TV center
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPAL
CLASS
Pilar
TYPE OF
ORGANIZATION
Civic
Organization,
Government
Institution, LGU,
Non-Government
Institution,
People’s
Organization,
School-based
Organization
SUPPORT
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Regular religious instruction (Roman Catholic)
Feeding Program for Below Normal Students
Pail of paint
Hardware materials
School supplies. educational materials,
reading materials to every school in the
district
Repair of feeding room PHP 25,000
Celebration of World Teachers Day and
Teacher’s Night Celebration
Project Proposal financial assistance (School
Project on No To Bullying cash grant of PHP
10,000)
Positive parenting training
Pupil-centered trainings for teachers and
School Pupil Government (SPG) officers
Manpower for weeding, cleaning, and
planting, committee support on school
activities, and assistance during calamities
Equipment such as aircon, grass cutter
Concrete projects in the school and in the
classrooms
Free labor on weeding
Planting in support for Gulayan sa Paaralan
Cooking/helping in the School Feeding
Program
2nd Class
Bula
105
Government
Agency, Civic
Organization,
LGU, Schoolbased
Organizations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Open high school
Bamboo desk
Production shared service facility for cacao
and banana chips, equipment and training
Classroom
School road marker
Construction supplies
Food and school supplies
Concrete fence and free flow water source
Family relief operation
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPAL
CLASS
Irosin
Jose
Panganiban
TYPE OF
ORGANIZATION
SUPPORT
Government
Agency, Civic
Organization,
LGU, Schoolbased
Organization
•
Corporation,
International
Organization
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Naga City
Corporation,
Government
Agency,
International
Organization,
Private Individual
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Computer sets and bags with school supply
and alcohol
Feeding program
Cement and other materials for the
construction of toilet
Pencils
School supplies and materials
Utilities and facilities
Livelihood support
Environmental programs and disaster
management, equipment and tools
Relief goods
Training
Trade books
Laptop and LCD projector
Donation of school supplies for teachers
Reading to primary grade pupils
Various pedagocial training which includes
Math, Japanese lesson plan, etc.
Storybook-making activity as part of the
advocacy of the research proposal
3rd Class
Castilla
Government
Agency, NonGovernment
Institution
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
106
Financial support
Health and education of indigent pupils
Food items and used clothing during typhoon
Training for teachers
School supplies and toothbrush
Annual learning visit program (LGU, teachers,
school head, principal, supervisors visit other
schools to learn their best practices)
Manna rice for Day Care
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
(DRRM) Training for Supreme Pupil
Government (SPG and provision of DRRM
materials
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPAL
CLASS
TYPE OF
ORGANIZATION
SUPPORT
Santa Elena Corporation,
Government
Agency,
International
Organization
•
•
•
•
School Supplies (Bags)
Manpower
Computer sets (already broken)
Books
Uson
Government
Agency
•
New building with three academic classrooms
Civic
Organization,
LGU, Schoolbased
Organizations
•
•
•
•
•
Library with books
School supplies
Computers
Prizes
Manpower (e.g., school maintenance,
labor for pathway construction)
Free haircut
4th Class
Casiguran
•
Iriga City
Civic
Organization,
Educational
Institution, LGU,
Government
Agency,
International
Organization,
Non-Government
Institution
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
107
Little cash assistance for the training
Materials for the classroom construction, day
care center, ECCD learning center
School supplies, learning materials, and
feeding programs
Gift giving
Roads and bridges
Evacuation centers
Water systems
Capacity building, seminars
Fisheries and agriculture infrastructure,
livelihood
Multipurpose could be: road;building; flood
control; drainage system
School buildings; access roads of schools
Water system for every barangay
Facilitation of livelihood trainings for women
Distribution of sewing machine and other
needed materials
Construction materials for families affected
by typhoons
Training on soft broom (walis tambo) making
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
MUNICIPAL
CLASS
Pandan
TYPE OF
ORGANIZATION
SUPPORT
Non-Government
Institution
•
Building
Batuan
Civic
Organization
•
•
Trainings for livelihood
Nutrition
Bombon
Corporation,
Private
Individuals,
School-based
Organizations
•
•
•
•
School supplies
Hygiene kits
Feeding program
Financial aid for infrastructures
Prieto Diaz
Civic
Organization,
Non-Government
Institution,
Government
Agency
•
•
•
•
School supplies
Disaster Risk and Management Training
Training Workshop for Teachers
Repair of classrooms
San Miguel
Corporation
•
•
School supplies
Hygiene kits
5th Class
108
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Figures 3 to 8 shows the stakeholders who are supportive of education in Region V.
Figure 3. Presence of Stakeholders in Albay and their Organization’s Classification
Figure 4. Presence of Stakeholders in Camarines Norte and their Organization’s Classification
109
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Figure 5. Presence of Stakeholders in Camarines Sur and their Organization’s Classification
Figure 6. Presence of Stakeholders in Catanduanes and their Organization’s Classification
110
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
Figure 7. Presence of Stakeholders in Masbate and their Organization’s Classification
Figure 8. Presence of Stakeholders in Sorsogon and Organizational Classification
111
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT
112
LCP CITIES’ SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (CI-CAP) PROJECT