The formal awarding of the Seal of Good Education Governance (SGEG) was the most awaited event of the 8 LGU-awardees from Luzon cluster.  On May 30, 2018, Mayor Rex Gathalian and the City of Valenzuela generously hosted this momentous event with the complete attendance of the mayors of 7 other recipient LGUs.  They were:  Mayor Ignacio Rivera of Tuba, Benguet;  Mayor Mario Guillermo of Diffun, Quirino;  Mayor Norma Miguel of Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya;  Mayor Eufemia Dacayo of Solano, Nueva Vizcaya;  Mayor Ronelie Valtorribio of Villaverde, Nueva Vizcaya;  Mayor Francisco Fontanilla of Bacnotan, La Union;  and Mayor Magno Wailan of Santol, La Union.

In his opening message, Mr. Nathan Hilgendorf, USAID Contracting Officer, said “USAID believes that education is a driver for development and reducing poverty.  It transforms individuals and society.  Education creates pathways for better health, economic growth, sustainable environment and peaceful democratic societies.  The US Government believes in the strength of education so it works with the Philippine Government to expand access to inclusive quality education especially to the most marginalized and vulnerable.”  He acknowledged and thanked PLDT and Smart Telecom for helping the government deliver quality basic education for the Filipino children.  He commended the LGU partners for being champions of education governance.  “The LGUs are a model for how strong community involvement in identifying education priorities and improving learning can reap widespread benefits to the community as a whole.” 

                                                   Mr. Nathan Hilgendorf, USAID Contracting Officer

From L-R:  PLDT/ SMART’s Darwin Flores, Mayor Guillermo, Mayor Dacayo, Mr. Nathan Hilgendorf of USAID, Mayor Gathalian,  Mayor Fontanilla, Mayor Wailan, Mayor Rivera, Mayor Valtorribio,  Mayor Miguel  and Dr. Nene Guevara

The SGEG winners each received the SGEG metal marker, School in a Bag and a technology incentive package from PLDT and Smart Communications worth  up to P1.5 million each, and cash prize of P30,000.

In his remarks, Mayor Ignacio Rivera of Tuba, Benguet  thanked USAID, PLDT/ SMART, and Synergeia, and shared that “The supplementary books you have provided for our Reading Program have made learning in Tuba better.  For this year, we plan to have a more dynamic learning program for our Grade 4 to 6 students.  We hope that PLDT and Smart will support us and be our untiring partner in uplifting the quality of education of children in Tuba.”

Nueva Vizcaya winners were also thankful.  Mayor Ronnelie Valtorribio of Villaverde said that the SGEG will serve as an inspiration to the LGU and its stakeholder partners to continue the effort to enhance and widen the scope of projects in education.  “Everyone in Villaverde works as one to achieve our dream of a brighter future of our children.”   Mayor Norma Miguel of Diadi said they will continue to intervene through programs that will “improve the academic performance of the least and lost learners, and strengthen school and parent partnership.”   Mayor Eufemia Dacayo of Solano promised to work even harder for the children.  “I wish to introduce  a project called   Solano CARES or Children’s  Achievement  and  Enhancement on Reading in School which will focus on teaching reading to children during summer.”

Diffun, Quirino’s Mayor Marlo Guillermo’s message inspires us.  “I would like to convey  our gratitude to  USAID, Synergeia and Smart for making this possible to us and other LGUs.   Synergeia has taught us the value of shared governance in education and the importance of involving the community, school, DepEd, parents and teachers.  We have been nurtured and loved by Synergeia because of our commitment to serve and perform our responsibility in education.”

Mayor Magno Wailan of  Santol, La Union believes that  education is everybody’s business.  “As the saying  goes,  “We train a child in the way he should grow.”  In Santol , we make sure that education is well taken cared of  because the children will be our future leaders.   A strong nation is an educated nation.”     Mayor Francisco Fontanilla of Bacnotan recognized his Vice-Mayor and the DepEd officials of Bacnotan as his “co-awardee.”   “I always emphasize to my fellow Bacnotañes that competition does not end when the winners are called and prizes are given, and sound education records are presented.  The essence of this award is sustaining the shared vision and collective efforts by the people in the community who are generally concerned for the education of all 45,000 Bacnotañes children.  May these award and incentives serve as reminders that we have a lot of work to do.”

Mayor Rex Gatchalian of Valenzuela City  expressed his joy by thanking USAID for giving them the opportunity to discover and maximize the potential of their children.  “Welcome to the great City of Valenzuela!  I’m sure that every mayor including myself will say that their city or municipality is probably the most beautiful in the country and it is absolutely true.  However, after being a mayor for five years, a city becomes more beautiful if you are able to unlock the potentials of children.  The take away is that I would like to thank Synergeia and USAID and Smart for giving LGUs the avenue to be creative in unlocking the values of our children.  Whenever children’s values are unlocked, when they learn to read, when they learn to sing, then the municipality becomes beautiful!”

We were mighty proud and happy when 24 LGUs were given recognition for their outstanding governance in education during last year’s 11^th National Education Summit.  We were witnesses to their journey to become excellent, dedicated education leaders.   Thus, we would not miss the formal conferment of the Seal of Good Education Governance (SGEG) to the 5 winners from Mindanao which was held last April 23, 2018.  Our Mindanao winners are Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental, Bongao and Simunul in Tawi-Tawi, and Upi and Datu Paglas in Maguidanao.  Their Local Chief Executives were all present to receive the most coveted award in education, namely, CDO Mayor Oscar Moreno, Bongao Mayor Jimuel Que, Simunul Mayor Nazif Abdurahman, North Upi Mayor Ramon Piang and Datu Paglas Mayor Mohammad Paglas.

L-R:  Pres. & CEO of Synergeia Foundation Milwida M. Guevara,  USAID Education Specialist Monica Tan,  Smart Distributor Sales Manager Bernie Deatras, PLDT Enterprise Group Mindanao Ben Melosa, Smart Community Partnership Head Darwin Flores, Datu Paglas Mayor Abubakar Paglas, USAID Deputy Chief of Executive Office Timothy Marlowe, Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno, Simunul Mayor Nazif Abdurahman, North Upi Mayor Ramon Piang, and Bongao Mayor Jimuel Que.

USAID Acting Chief of Executive Office, Mr. Timothy Marlowe, in his keynote speech, thanked PLDT and Smart Telecom for helping the Filipino children.   “The support of  PLDT-Smart  provides  an example of generosity to other private sector corporations and organizations.   It is a great model of community participation and involvement in education.   As a father, I want the best opportunities for my children and I believe education is an investment for the future of our children.”

Also present during the SGEG awarding were representatives from PLDT-Smart: Mr. Darwin Flores- VP for Community Partnership,  Mr. Deivid Rioferio and  Ms. Stephanie Orlino, District Heads  of  Local DepEd, other LGU officials, Ms. Monica Ang-Tan, USAID Program Specialist, Synergeia President and CEO Dr. Nene Guevara  and  Synergeia Program Officers.

The handover of  SGEG marker  and  incentive package from  PLDT-Smart  was led by  Mr. Marlowe assisted  by  Mr.  Flores.  The package of incentives includes a satellite phone,  wifi/internet connection, mobile phone,  solar panel,  LCD TV and others which form part of  “school in a bag.”

“Our joy is beyond words!” was how Mayor Moreno described how he and the other Mindanao winners felt.   The Mayors thanked USAID and Synergeia for the support to their education programs, and PLDT and SMART Telecom for the incentive and technology package.  They committed to do their best always to push for quality education.

Mayor Abdurahman has aptly stated, “we should invest in educating our children and the youth…education is the only way to pull us from poverty.”  Mayor Jimuel Que, one of the youngest Mayors, believes that “education should be a priority of the local government…through education, children and their families will have better lives…I am lucky because the DepEd officials in our districts are hardworking and dedicated to our mission.”

Mayor Paglas was thankful for the capacity building workshops provided under EdGE.  He notes that his LGU now allocates funds to support teacher training, remedial reading and production of learning materials.  The LGU and the communities are now working closely together to address problems in education.   Mayor Piang highlighted the efforts put in by stakeholders in the community to improve the quality of education.  The Local School Board has expanded membership from the business, women and youth sectors.  Parents, taking their children’s education seriously, monitor their children’s study habits and homework, and help reduce child labor in Upi.  There are Barangay School Boards that coordinate closely with principals and teachers on the needs of children.

Mayor Moreno shared that Cagayan de Oro has built the necessary infrastructure to help improve education performance.  Children in the hinterlands will no longer have to walk far to go to school because schools have been built in their communities.   He thanked USAID and Synergeia for providing technical direction to their education program.  “The city’s educational status is our crown jewel. We are molding our future leaders.  We should take to heart our role in education,” said Mayor Oscar Moreno.

Mayor Honey Lumayag-Matti of Polomolok, South Cotabato was among the local chief executives who participated in a Synergeia workshop for Local School Boards (LSBs) on November 8, 2017 in General Santos City.   She admitted the LSB workshop was an eye-opener for her.  She realized the challenge of providing good education to the 30,000 school children in Polomolok and did not want any child to be left out.  She firmly believed that “If we have to invest in human resources, we have to start by providing children with good education.  Education is a preparation for a good future.”

After re-examining its priorities, the Local School Board of Polomolok, which Mayor Matti chairs, approved its support for the training of teachers in reading.  If their teachers teach reading well, the children’s learning performance will improve.

Last July, Polomolok  gathered its grade school teachers to attend a remedial reading workshop facilitated by Synergeia.  The workshop was held at Our Lady of Mt. Matutum Trappistine Monastery, nestled at the foot of Mt. Matutum and a peaceful place that was conducive for learning.

On the first day of the workshop, Synergeia CEO Dr. Nene Guevara taught phonemic awareness to the teachers.  She emphasized that children do not learn reading by rote memorization but by knowing the sound of each letter and being able to blend them.

                                              Mayor Honey Matti  saying the sound of “F”  as  in “Fish”

She also taught the teachers how to develop comprehension among young learners.  When Ma’am Nene read the story titled “The Little Red Hen,” the teachers produced sounds for the different characters in the story, making the storytelling activity fun and exciting.  By making reading fun, children will develop love for reading.

On the second day of the workshop, the teachers were assigned in two groups under Ma’am Nene and mentor Sunny Sevilla.  After more practice exercises, the teachers were asked to come up with creative ideas and activities by which they can teach their students what they learned from the workshop.  One can see the excitement of the teachers as they presented their ideas such as colorful crowns, word mobile, alphabet wheel, flip charts, storybooks and many more. One can feel their personal fulfilment with the new skills they have learned.

                                          Teachers enjoyed preparing creative instructional materials.                                     

And when it was time to leave, one can see from the smiles on the teachers’ faces that they are ready and eager to be better reading teachers to their students.

The LGU and the teachers are prioritizing quality education for their children.  This is indeed a happy beginning for Polomolok.