Why Raul Roco likes TS Elliot

I have always been interested in the Department of Education. I’ve always felt that this department is where the future of the Philippines lies. It has the ability to create a myriad of opportunities. This is why when the former Senator Raul Roco was appointed to this august body, I felt it was a brilliant move. The erudite senator is worthy of this assignment.

I remember sitting among theater groups in a meeting with him where he had been requested to support Philippine theater. He was amiable but firm in his response that he would not allow any official endorsements of anything that would cost the student more than they could afford for school expenses. The former senator is a lover of theater and music but believes his public school students have been burdened enough with compulsory events. He gladly obliged us with general endorsements but encouraged us to woo our audiences without the fear of obligation.

I am hoping that his tenure in the Department of Education would result in more classrooms, more textbooks and more enlightened teachers.

Sec. Raul Roco’s Book List

1. A World Lit Only By Fire by William Manchester – Because it completed a mosaic of history that connected the Pied Piper to Magellan in my mind.

2. The Song Of A Bird by Anthony de Mello – Because it made me aware.

3. Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo by Jose Rizal – Because they awakened me.

4.The Poems Of TS Elliot – Because it made me conscious that in a "minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will revise."

5. The New Realities: In Government and Politics, in Economics and Business in Society and World View, MANAGEMENT FOR EXCELLENCE or other management books by Peter Drucker – Because they made me realize that people are more important than money.

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Book of the Week: Visions Of The Possible Legacies of Philippine Freedom by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, published by Marily Orosa’s Studio 5 Publishing, published in commemoration of the centennial of the proclamation of Philippine Independence. No library should be without it. Available at all National Book Stores and Powerbooks.

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Magazine of the Week: OPRAH – always a great read! Distributed in the Philippines by Emerald Headway.

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Your comments and suggestions are always welcome at readclub@aol.com