No pilot project for DepEd’s Bridge Program?

Last Friday evening and all the way to Saturday morning, the regular programming of the Cable Network News (CNN) and the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) gave way to the coverage of the state funeral for the late former US President Ronald Wilson Reagan. The last time America and the world witnessed a state funeral American style was during the burial of the late US President Lyndon B. Johnson and so the whole world watched with awe as America mourned the loss of a Great President with pomp, reverence and full military honors befitting a fallen head of state!

Watching that state funeral immediately reminded us that America is a superpower, the world’s remaining superpower and when the Commander-in-chief dies, though he was elected as a civilian President, it is the military establishment that handles all the pomp and pageantry involved in a state funeral.

That America remembers its fallen Presidents with all that pomp and reverence is something that the other world leaders could only envy.

During the ceremonies one of the songs that the mourners always sang aside from "Amazing Grace" was "God Bless America." People my age can never forget the lyrics of this song… after all, back in the 50s, America and the Philippines were so entwined. We used to sing that song which we titled, "God Bless the Philippines," except that we changed a few words, like "prairie" into "mountain." But we did sing that song a lot with fervor (which brought us to tears) because it was one song that taught us to love the Philippines. Well, sadly, today, no one sings a song to show our love of country. Perhaps that is why so many Filipinos are leaving for greener pastures abroad.

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The celebrated shooting of radioman Cirse "Choy" Torralba, who by the way is celebrating his "nth" birthday today, has been considered "solved" when the task force created by the Philippine National Police (PNP) went on a manhunt armed with some leads and picked up a certain John Lloyd Murillo Ortiz last Thursday in his uncle’s house in Lapu-Lapu City. According to Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) chief Paul Labra II, Ortiz matches the cartographic sketch that Torralba gave to the police as the gunman, and Torralba’s driver, Randy Libradilla, positively identified the suspect.

I would have reported this earlier, but I wanted to come up with a more complete update, especially when the CIDG had Ortiz undergo a paraffin test to show whether he fired a gun or not and yes, the fellow was found positive with powder burns on both hands. As Torralba indicated, the gunman fired at him with both hands holding his nickel-plated pistol in combat fashion.

Of course, the lawyers of Ortiz insist that he is merely a "fall guy" because they say that the PNP was "pressured" to come up with a suspect… after all, Choy Torralba is a celebrity. Come now… fall guy? Perhaps the lawyers of Ortiz ought to explain why this "fall guy" was positive of powder burns, especially at a time when there was an election ban against civilians carrying a firearm? I know most of the members of the gun clubs in Cebu and I have never come across his name. Perhaps he practices shooting alone. Whatever it is, the paraffin test shows that Ortiz recently fired a gun.

Ortiz, who hails from Calbayog, Samar, is supposed to be a lover of one of Choy’s woman friends… which now brings this case into the realm of a love triangle. Definitely, this story is getting juicier. With Ortiz identified by Choy’s driver and Choy himself in his hospital bed also positively identified him in a picture, then this should rule out the other groups which Choy has been saying want him killed.

Pundits suspected that drug lords who were exposed by Torralba in his radio program may have issued a contract to end his life. But for now the reason for the attempt on his life is jealous rage. But this development doesn’t mean that Choy should no longer fear for his life. I’m sure that there are many others who still want to do him in… after all, a radio broadcaster who goes scathing attacks against the ugly elements of society, poses a serious threat to their existence. Before he left the hospital, I called up Choy and he announced that he was given a clean bill of health by his doctor. Checking him also for any potential health problems, he’s A-OK! Happy Birthday, Choy, and let’s pray to God that this will be the last time you’ll have this experience.

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Last week, I interviewed the officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) on the controversial Bridge Program. Allow me to say that there is no question that we have a serious problem with the quality of our grade school students entering high school virtually half-baked or half-cooked, and the folk at the DepEd are no doubt trying to "bridge" the quality gap through its Bridge Program. This program is so designed for students to "catch up" through another year of schooling. However, this is where the problem lies.

For worried parents, sending their kids to Grade 7 means another year of expenses when their kids should already be in high school. But as DepEd studies show, the Philippine government spends only P3,000 per student per year compared to our ASEAN neighbors which spend more than double this figure and their kids spend two more years in grade school than ours. Naturally with these factors, the quality of our students is in serious decline.

Perhaps, parents ought to ask themselves — force their half-baked children into high school only to end up failing after one or two years, or let them go through the Bridge Program? Well, that’s a question parents and teachers must discuss. The problem with our parents today is they forget that they too must spend time to educate their children… and not just leave them in the hands of their teachers. But then, what kind of parents do we have these days?

However, what is seriously lacking with the Bridge Program is a pilot project, which the education officialdom in Manila failed to consider. Having a pilot project to check whether this program can guarantee a certain modicum of success would have brought more understanding about this program to our worried parents. Dialogue, after all, is the key to understanding.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.