Blood is thicker than water

The truth will always prevail.

As expected, Sara finally came out of the dark. Her last minute, photo finish shift came with fanfare that could have been planned with more taste. Her resignation letter was so informal and seemingly rushed. Is this how a future leader should handle matters of great concern? Writing a serious and important letter to her party on a notepad? Taking an expensive jet here, there and everywhere as if it were a jeepney ride? Finally sealing a deal with a new group and partying, unmindful of how our countrymen out there see them in extravagance while the people continue to suffer during this pandemic? What a showcase!

Doesn’t such callousness remind you of the First Family in the yesteryears who lived in abundance while the poor watched them party and dancing with the stars?

How painful it must be for Inday Sara’s cohorts to feel and realize how she abandoned them for a new party. She was clearly invited to the dragons’ lair intricately webbed with so many crawling spiders around. Don’t be fooled by her tactic. She knew this from the beginning. In my opinion, she was just waiting for the right time and the right way to do it.

Inday Sara knows that she has a good chance in the coming elections; however, the shadow of her father, who seemingly has led the country in haste, may result in a big dent in her popularity. This is why she may be calculating her moves and distancing herself from him. But in the end, when and if she is proclaimed the winner, she will continue to be a daughter to her father. Don’t forget – blood is thicker than water.

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The truth will always prevail.

A week ago Bong Bong Marcos found himself in a labyrinth. First, there was the disqualification case filed against his certificate of candidacy. Second, with the entry of Inday Sara, he apparently became cautious. Third, now that Inday Sara consented to becoming his vice president, he seems both ecstatic but still a bit perplexed.

Now, the cat is out of the bag. It is a BBM-Duterte-Carpio tandem for Partido Federal ng Pilipinas. Yes, Inday Sara of the Lakas-CMD party has been adopted by the PFP as its candidate for vice president. But wait! There seems to be something fishy going on. BBM better keep his guard up. Could it be that Inday Sara is doing this to please BBM? Or is she doing this to annoy her father? Apparently, he also plans to run for vice president. This is how desperate and hungry these politicians are for power. There is more to this than meets the eye. Let’s wait and see. Abangan!

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The Department of Education announced over the weekend that the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes in the initial 100 public schools will push through today, while 20 private schools will follow on Nov. 22. There will be a total of 14 participating schools in Caraga; 10 participating schools each from Ilocos region, Northern Mindanao, Eastern Visayas and Central Luzon; nine from Bicol region; eight public schools each from Central Visayas, Zamboanga peninsula and Davao; five schools each from Calabarzon, Soccsksargen and three public schools in Western Visayas.

DepEd added that 484 out of 638 areas nationwide have passed their granular risk assessment by the DOH as minimal or low-risk. So, once these schools are assessed and validated to be qualified for the face-to-face classes, another set of pilot schools will reopen. The agency also gave the assurance that with the operational guidelines and shared responsibility framework in place, the pilot program will remain consistent with relevant public health standards.

This move will show us how prepared we are for face-to-face classes. It will give us the experience we need to fully assess the planning of future face-to-face classes, considering that times have changed and that we now live according to the “new normal.”

If you recall, the Philippines was tagged by UNICEF as one among the few countries that has kept schools closed during the pandemic. This caused concern among educational experts. A New York Times article, entitled “With Schools Closed, COVID-19 Deepens a Philippine Crisis,” the writers Gutierrez and Bilefsky wrote that education experts have expressed concerns that the pandemic has created a “lost generation.”

In the same article, a student and a mother shared their stories on the reality of online learning. Iljon Roxas, a high school student stuck at home in Bacoor City, south of Manila, said the monotony of staring at a computer screen over the past year made it difficult to concentrate, and he yearned to return to a real classroom. The fun and joy of learning, he added, had evaporated.

Maritess Talic, 46, a mother of two, said she feared her children had barely learned anything during the past year. She said she understood the need to prioritize health over keeping schools open, but she also feared her children’s future. “The thing is, I don’t think they are learning at all,” she added. “The internet connection is just too slow sometimes.”

In a survey conducted on learning competencies, 53 percent of students surveyed were not sure if they could learn the competencies set by DepEd for their grade level under distance learning, and only seven in 10 were confident of finishing the school year. When DepEd Secretary Briones reported in March that 99 percent of public school students obtained a passing grade in the first quarter of the school year, our esteemed senators questioned such findings, knowing that many students struggled with distance learning.

Our DepEd Secretary Briones has always carried a positive disposition amidst the pandemic. She seems to be the bearer of ‘good’ news amidst the educational crisis we are witnessing in the Philippines. But we are not fools to believe that everything is A-OK in the educational sector of the country. We have myriads of problems in this sector which we must confront wholeheartedly without sugar-coating them.