Four Teachers are ‘The Few to Inspire the Many’ (Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aug. 5 issue)

          In a rare and modest moment, four educators and their 108 years of teaching experience, thousands of hours of paperwork and countless strokes on the blackboard were honored to inspire more than half a million others who toil in the nation’s classrooms.

          After months of a meticulous selection process, mobile teacher Ronyla Santiago of Nueva Ecija, special education teacher Elsa Grafilo Duran of Cotabato City, philosophy professor Fr. Roque Angel Ferriols of the Ateneo de Manila University and journalism professor Luis Teodoro of the University of the Philippines emerged as “the few to inspire the many.”

          Santiago, who turns 32 on Aug. 8, barely got through her speech when called to the podium.

           Her voice breaking, she told the audience how she taught a class of rebel returnees in a military camp and how she walked great distances to get to her students, among them, Igorot, Aeta and Kankanaey, in the mountains of Palayan City, Nueva Ecija.

           “I never thought that the 9 to 10 kilometers I walked every day to my class would take me this far,” she said.

           Also a regional awardee for her dedication to the education department’s Alternative Learning System, Santiago had only brief exposure to teaching in a formal school before she decided to serve as a mobile teacher in her home province, providing basic education to occasionally hesitant adults.

           “No one will admit that he is illiterate. Encouraging those who have never had schooling to learn is very hard, because they will not exchange the money they can make to attending your class,” Santiago said.

Unschooled persons           In teaching elementary courses to unschooled persons aged 16 and up, Santiago has learned the delicate art of putting adults on the road to learning even in “scary” situations.

           She had such an experience in July 2002, when the military chose her among the mobile teachers to hold classes for former members of the separatist Moro National Liberation Front.

           “Standing before 58 rebel returnees was so scary,” she said. “One of them said he would take me home. Even if I was terrified, I told him that he should respect me because I was his teacher.”

           But she has been rewarded many times over after seeing her former students improve their lives: “It means a lot because I was a big part of them. All the difficulties I had just go away.”

‘Many faces of teachers’          The four educators are the fruits of this year’s “Many Faces of the Teacher”

search, which was organized in 2004 by the Bato Balani Foundation Inc. (BBFI) and Diwa Learning Systems Inc. (DLSI) to annually commend and encourage the Philippines’ seldom recognized and often overworked teaching force.

         “We’d like to show that despite the dismal picture of our education system, we do have some bright spots. And the teachers are one of those bright spots in the midst of problems,” said the BBFI’s Saturnino Belen Jr. at the simple awarding ceremony in Makati City.

          The 2007 awardees will again be honored in September’s “A Tribute to Teachers,” a yearly gathering also organized by the BBFI and DLSI to recognize “the selflessness and courage of teachers who continue the good work despite the odds.” Some 15,00 teachers are expected to attend the event.

         Teodoro, noting the parallel decline in the interest in teaching as a profession and society’s regard for educators, told the Inquirer: “At least there will be public awareness that what teachers do is important, [especially those] teachers in the basic education sector who do the most difficult work.”

2 hands clapping          As Belen put it, “Many Faces of a Teacher” and September’s tribute are two hands applauding the country’s educators for their dedication to a profession that has a lot to do with making do.

         “We look not only at skills but also at the teacher as a total person—how he or she influences his/her students, society, and his/her colleagues,” said DLSI president Amada Javellana.

           The organizers partnered with socio-civic groups to come up with a short list of 12 for the deliberation of a panel of judges.

           There is no monetary reward for the honor, just the privilege of being a role model for the rest of the nation’s teaching force, Belen said.

           It is a position of value, especially at a time when educators seem to have lost a sense of pride in the profession.

          “It used to be that if you’re a teacher, you’d say, ‘I am a teacher.’ But now, it’s ‘Teacher lang (only),’ said Teodoro, a mentor of many of today’s journalism professionals.

          “At least if there’s recognition, those graduating from high school might have a sense that it would be worthy to take up education,” he said.

Passions          As emotional as Santiago was Duran, 55, a teacher of children with special needs at the Cotabato City Central Pilot School for 13 years now and also a foster mother to her homeless students.

         Duran works even during weekends and holidays, and her determination to educate children with cognitive, visual or hearing impairment has helped raise enrollment in her school’s special education classes from five in 1995 to 26 students this year.

         “I don’t know what to say...” said a tearful Duran. “Through the many years I’ve been teaching the disabled, I now reach this success. It’s not easy to teach the disabled, but I have grown to love them—and to love my job.”

          Duran’s passion is equaled by Ferriols, who has earned the admiration of his peers for his unwavering commitment to teaching philosophy in Filipino.

         The Jesuit priest’s words said it all: “Ang pag-iisip ay hindi laro kundi taimtim na paghahanap sa totoo... Kung mamimilosopiya ka sa Ingles habang ang nagwawalis sa kalye, namamasada sa jeepney, ay nag-iisip sa Pilipino, anong uring paghahanap ng katotohanan ito? Kailangang kilalanin na ang ordinaryong tao ay namimilosopiya din at naghahanap ng katotohanan (Thinking is not a game but a profound search for truth... If you philosophize in English while the street sweeper or jeepney driver thinks in Filipino, what kind of search for truth is that? We must recognize that the common man also philosophizes and seeks truth).”

          Four of Ferriols’ philosophy books have been cited by the Manila Critics Circle. In 1989, Ateneo de Manila awarded him the Gawad Tanglaw Lahi for his efforts to promote instruction in Filipino.

          This teacher of 52 years will mark his 83rd birthday on Aug. 16.

Changing all that          Teodoro, 65, a former dean of the UP Diliman College of Mass Communication and a staunch advocate of press freedom, delivered brief remarks but drove home the point.

         “Teaching is the least appreciated profession in the country and I hope these awards will correct the dominant impression that teaching is thankless. I hope these awards will go toward changing all that,” he said.

         The past “Many Faces of the Teacher” awardees are: mathematics and science teacher and Inquirer columnist Queena Lee-Chua, Dr. Josette Biyo, after whom Planet Biyo was named, reading coach Dr. Maria Teresa Calderon, Loboc Children’s Choir founder Alma Fernando-Taldo, school founder Feny delos Angeles-Bautista, mathematics teacher Dr. Milagros Ibe, philosophy professor Dr. Florentino Timbreza, theology professor Dr. Joseph Roche, scientist Dr. Caesar Saloma, Dr. Onofre Pagsanghan and Fr. James Reuter.