March 20, 2018 was a red-letter day for Panghulo Elementary School and everyone was abuzz with excitement.  It was the day of the groundbreaking for the construction of a 2-storey, 6-classroom building costing P8.27 million and to be funded by UniTeller.

At around summer last year,  UniTeller, a US-based international remittance company whose CSR program focuses on supporting the welfare of children by working with their barangays, schools and communities, did a site inspection of the elementary school and saw that the existing 1-storey 3-classroom building was one meter below the school ground level.  During heavy rains and high tides when the nearby Tullahan River became swollen, the classrooms became flooded and the teachers and children held classes with feet soaked in flood waters.  Immediately, UniTeller decided to prioritize the construction of a new school building.

The partnership agreement was concluded among UniTeller, Barangay Panghulo in Obando, Bulacan, the Panghulo Elementary School and Synergeia Foundation.  It is now coming to fruition.  Construction will be done in two phases – 3 classrooms on the first storey will be completed in time for the school opening in June, while the 3 other classrooms on the 2^nd storey will be constructed next year.  Principal Vilma de Ocampo, Barangay Captain Marc Louie Gonzales, Synergeia CEO Ma’am Nene and officials of UniTeller led by Mr. Oscar Moreno, Mr. Fernando Gutierrez and Mr. Felipe Roque were present to witness the groundbreaking.  We are hoping for more collaboration with UniTeller Filipino Inc.  in the future.

“A Worthy Life is (one) for the Service of Others” – Mayor John Rey Tiangco

An old song goes “love is lovelier, the second time around…”  Except that it wasn’t the second time but the fifth time that Synergeia facilitated an education-related workshop in Navotas City.   Still, the experience of working with our partner-education leaders in Navotas has always been very inspiring for us.

The workshop was held on March 1 and 2, 2018 for School Governing Councils from 15 Navotas elementary schools and 8 Navotas high schools.   It aimed to capacitate the SGC members on their more complex roles such as policy making, action planning, financing, goal-setting and task analysis, and developing a SGC brand.   It was encouraging to see the participants very active during discussions and exercises, and very eager to learn.  They also enjoyed the session on “The Look of a Leader” by Director Oskar Atendido of John Robert Powers International which taught them stance and posture, and improving one’s gait to project confidence.  The catwalk portion of this module was a relaxing way to close the first day of session.

Synergeia initially collaborated with Navotas in 2013 for a training workshop for the Local School Board.  This was followed by a workshop on school governance and a training for barangays in 2014, and a workshop for School Governing Councils in May 2015.  Although there was a break in our engagement for almost 2 years, Navotas continued to push education programs on its own.  Its Local School Board performed well in education governance.   Synergeia President Ma’am Nene referred to the Navotas experience as a great measure of how successful the LGU-Synergeia partnership has worked despite the 2-year absence.  And she gave credit to the hardworking, data-savvy, service-oriented and family-centered  chief executive, Mayor John Rey Tiangco.

Mayor John Rey, as he is fondly called by most people who knew him, was very generous with his time and came to open and close the 2-day SGC workshop.   He pushed for the workshop as he saw the need to continue the training of SGCs in Navotas.  He understood their huge role in the education of children.  Whereas in the past, education was left to the teacher and the parent only, now, everyone including the barangay, the community and the private sector must contribute to make sure all children of school age are in school and getting quality education.   Mayor John Rey definitely knows whereof he speaks – – he was a SGC member way before he even thought of running for Mayor of Navotas.

For a young man, Mayor John Rey’s wisdom and dedication are inspiring.  In his closing remarks, Mayor John Rey advised the SGC members to choose good leaders who have the passion to make education work and the commitment to serve.   “A worthy life is (one) for the service of others,” he said.  Navotas City is indeed fortunate to be under his leadership, and Synergeia is privileged to have an Education Mayor in Mayor John Rey.

We are extremely pleased with our partnership with SMART Communications, Inc. SMART generously supported the inaugural awarding of the Seal of Good Education Governance to 24 LGU-partners of Synergeia Foundation which measured up in terms of leadership in the implementation of education programs in their respective communities.

During the launch of the Seal in May 2017, SVP and Head of PLDT Enterprise Mr. Jovy Hernandez was asked by media guests why SMART Communications decided to support the program. He was quick to answer “Why not? When we knew what Synergeia is doing in uplifting the educational status of our children, we decided to join them and complement their efforts by supporting them…Education is also one of our responsibilities… If we can support education more, we can expect a better nation…We are here today for the simple reason that together, we will see to it that all our children will be educated for a better life and a better nation.”

The announcement of winners and awarding of the incentive packages from SMART were one of the highlights of the 11^th National Education Summit last September 28-29, 2017 (see related article under “News and Events”).    SVP Hernandez acknowledged the excitement in the hall but remarked that he was more excited to hand out to outstanding and winning LGUs the incentive packages from SMART-PLDT worth P1.5 million each.  The incentive package is primarily comprised of tailor-fit technology-based solutions for education with digital learning content plus cash prize.  The incentive package will also include the installation of wifi in hot spots in the winning LGUs.  For LGUs in remote or far-flung areas, they will give “SMART school in a bag” which will include mobile devices and solar panel.

In addition, in 2017, SMART had likewise provided a “Technocart” worth P200,000 each to 8 LGU-partners of Synergeia, namely, San Gabriel and Santol, La Union; Tuba and La Trinidad from Benguet;   Dao and Sapian from Capiz; and 2 for the LSB of Lanao del Norte.  The cart contained a laptop, 20 tablets, a CD projector, pocket wifi, and learning packages. “

Synergeia Chairman Fr. Jett Villarin very much welcomed the generous gesture of support by SMART/PLDT and reiterated the commitment of Synergeia towards helping communities overcome obstacles to quality education.  “Synergeia is a movement.  We aim to share the best practices of LGUs so that those at the bottom will be interested to join and improve the school performance of their children.”