THEME: EDUCATION (70,000 STUDENTS IN BICOL ARE NON-READERS)
TITLE: PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS
I’ll give you a minute to read the title.
If you have read the title correctly without stuttering, my inner lexical vibe salutes you. And if you
understand the meaning of the word above, two hands are already down for you. Question is, can you give a
short description base on the word itself aside from it is a medical term?
I’ll give you a minute to think of that.
Reading becomes easier only when you just recognize the letters and how they interact with one another
in a word, in a phrase, in a sentence, or in a whole text. But reading is not reading without comprehension.
Reading is recognizing the letters of the alphabet from A to Z and going through the meaning of the word.
Superficiality cannot be associated with anything deeper.
In the recent DepEd report in the first week of February 2020, stakeholders, teachers, and any other who
are in the field of education were put in shock. Headlines on the newspapers were big, shouting for attention.
Articles were published on different media platforms caused an alarm to whoever have read those. Seventy
thousand. Let’s have it in figures for emphasis- 70,000 students in Bicol from grades 1-7 cannot read. Again. In
Bicol. Only. And that is not something not to worry about just because of geographical distance of Bicol and
Bataan, because if Bicol has 70,000, how about the rest of the country?
Upon knowing the jaw-dropping news, opinions rapidly circulate the system, leading to a question- who
should be blamed for this? Now, the blame game begins.
Is it the parents’ fault for not supervising their children’s status and development at school because they
were too busy providing for their families’ needs?
Should it be on the teachers for not being able to meet the competencies because of tons of paperwork
associated with their job?
Should we blame the Department of Education for giving idealistic standards, which obviously, is not
met in the real world, because they wanted the education system and its products be world class?
Is it the students’ fault that they cannot read because the people stated above did not interact well with
one another to provide a quality education?
Or shall we end this toxic, unhealthy culture of pointing fingers whenever a trouble comes, and start
reconsidering the actions and decisions that we have taken to, at least, lift up the morality of every one of us
who is affected by the issue. We can start again if we go hand in hand in beating illiteracy.
Bicol did a good job for being an eye-opener for all of us.
Both Jose Rizal and Whitney Houston believed that children are our future, but to be able for them to be,
we have to lead the way for them. At the end of the day, we are all guilty for being negligent, and if not being
able to read is a crime, we are criminals.
This is about our youth. 70,000 is already a great number. Questions may still exist about the accuracy
of the report, but aside from rooting the cause of the problem, I suggest we also formulate solutions to it.
By the way, pneumono-ultra-microscopic-silico-volcano-coniosis is a lung disease caused by inhaling
very fine ash and sand dust, according to Oxford English Dictionary. This is the word which we have only used
in conversations upon the eruption of Taal Volcano.
THEME: ACADEMIC DEPRESSION
TITLE: THE FALLEN WARRIOR
The city noise seems a melody to my ears. I felt the hustling wind touching my skin from my arms to my
back. It’s giving me the chills until I can feel nothing anymore but numbness. The busy street doesn’t throw its
eye to anyone who’s crying for help. It minds its own business: the cars are moving back and forth; the people
have their attention on their errands. I can see the reality from where I am right now. It’s a chaotic world.
A lady in her 50s finally noticed me.
“What is he doing up there!?” She shouted without asking for an answer. She caught everyone’s
attention and everybody drew near her. They all looked at the direction where she has her eyes on.
Soon after, the woman became more hysterical resulting to more eyes looking at me.
I never wanted attention. That’s the truth. And this scene before my eyes isn’t what I wanted it to be.
People started to take videos, waiting for anything I might do.
“Paano nakaakyat ‘yan ‘dyan!?” a man asked.
No one knows the answer.
No one but me.
I closed my eyes and my ears refused to function to hearing the panicked people down there.
For a moment, I can hear nothing but my own heartbeat…
“Mr. Dela Torre, are you listening?”
“yy-yes, Ma’am…”
“You seem out of your mind… so, as I was telling you, being a varsity player doesn’t guarantee you
high grades. If you want to make your scores higher, double your effort. Might as well leave the team.
Remember, you are a graduating student”
--“You’re late again, Mr. Dela Torre”
“I’m sorry coach, I just have to catch up the missed quizzes”
“If you cannot balance your life as a player and as a student, this will affect the team. Keep your focus,
young man.”
-“What are these!? Are these what you call grades!? You failed in two subjects! Your coach also told me
that you are easily distracted in the game. What’s happening to you!? Your father and I expect a lot from you.
Don’t disappoint us”
-“Jeff, have you finalized the assignment I gave you for our research? You’re the only one who’s not
helping the group”
-What course do you plan to take in college? Ah! You should be an engineer! Engineers have a good
salary here and abroad. No! you cannot achieve anything with those paint brushes! I’m telling you!”
-“Study hard so you can help me provide for the family after you graduate”
-“Babe, I can’t take this anymore. You’re too busy and distracted at studying and at game. You don’t
have time for me.”
The voices come one by one after one after another to pay their visit to my disturbed peace.
Nobody asked if I’m still okay. Perhaps, this is the consequence of being the “happy guy”. No one is
concerned about your well being.
Truth is…
“Magpapakamatay pa yata!”
…I’m tired
I don’t even know how and why did I come up here. All I remember is that I wanted to breathe fresh air
and eliminate these thoughts.
No one has seen the battles I chose to fight against every single day. No one has felt and understood the
emptiness and sadness that’s killing me inside. I had no one but myself who braved the storms that I wasn’t
prepared of. The flood became to high to be contained by my eyes. I want to explode at any moment from now.
“Kuya, ‘wag kang tatalon!”
I want to rest.
Now, I am close to my silence… only inches away from my peace. My legs aren’t shaking anymore. I’m
ready to dive into the calming caress of the wind.
I closed my eyes.
There was a deafening silence, and then the deafening noises. The busy street went back to its
businesses.
No more pain now.
.
.
.