Not just school supplies

 

THE election dust has settled and the admirable Brigada Eskwela volunteers have been mobilized for the coming opening of classes to repair, clean, and give a bit of a doll-up to the public schools around the province, which are surely a little extra messy this year after being used as polling precincts in the May 13 election. There appears to be no major protests or post-poll bickering in the local government scene. Applause is in order for the losers at the provincial, city and municipal levels who humbly conceded. Congratulations are due to the winners along with a shout-out to remind them of the serious tasks ahead of them in the next three years starting July 1.

With the incoming new, re-elected or repositioned public servant-leaders, local government units need to make education one of its highest priorities if the province hopes to achieve genuine development in the long term. Making education a priority does not simply mean doling out school supplies marked with the politician’s names and slogans at the start of the school year. It entails the bigger commitment of exerting political will to allot a significant portion of the local annual budget into the various factors that are necessary in the learning of our children.  These include decent salaries for teachers and their continuous training, a proportionate number of teachers to students to ensure appropriate learning, construction or rehabilitation and maintenance of infrastructure, and provision of basic facilities such as chairs, books, and toilets. Our newly elected LGU officials should join the Brigada Eskwela because it will surely be an eye-opener and a good learning experience for them.

True leaders see beyond the short-term effects of their influence and look to a lasting impact of their time in service and power. The next generation of Pangasinenses, who are facing an even more competitive national and global economy, would stand as a testament to local leaders who understand and will give importance to their education.

 

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Hollow victory

 

MIGZ Villafuerte grabbed national attention not exactly because, at 24, he was the youngest governor to ever win in the May 13 elections.  Although that was, of course, a no mean feat in itself, still that victory of his was hollow in, alas, the strictest sense of the word.  Reason:  He beat his own grandfather for the post.  Louie Villafuerte, Migz’s victim, is the father of Migz’s father, the outgoing Camarines Sur governor, L-Ray.

Unless that was a mere charade, which, from all indications, it wasn’t, judging from the way L-Ray and Louie had openly fought verbally, and even spilled their dirty linen in public for years on end before the last polls, Migz was a non-gainer instead of a grand winner.

For, what pride would a grandson gain from a victory at the expense of his own granddad?  Is there honor at all in a grandkid embarrassing the father of his own father on the big stage?

We can only cringe, to say the least.

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