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.
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.