The deteriorating situation of our country demands re evaluation of many of our societal structures. A most significant of which is the concern of education. The incumbent question at hand is “Is our educational processes responsive of our nation’s building efforts?” We ask ourselves what approaches and what characteristics should our educational processes should possess. Immediately, we come upon the choice – should it be confining or liberating? Should it be conservative or bold? Should we retain old practices or develop new approaches?.
The thing with the quest for knowledge is that the more we learn, the more we realize how insignificant we are in the universe. With this thought, perhaps we should aspire not for knowledge but instead focus our resources to competence. Award the quest for truth to the conservatives and assign the bold task at hand to the progressive. The demands of our times require boldness in strategem and competence in execution. Much is to be said about the unjust social, political and economic situations about our country and much has been noted about the plight of our people.
Perhaps we must ask ourselves if remedy cannot be completely addressed in our educational institutions perhaps we can create contraptions to supplement our structural deficiency. I am reminded of a story about the glory days of my grandfather Mayor Marciano Bitara, Saning as fondly called by the locals. His predicament, a similar story to some of business magnates with limited access to education in their younger years, strikes an intellectual debate as to the proposition that education is key to our nation's liberation. The story goes that as a mayor of Malilipot, Albay, my grandfather had a huge task at hand developing the municipality in a time where the country was recovering from the ravages of World War 2. A particular project pertaining the construction of a public school facility in Barangay Sulong under his municipality. There was not much land to consider with the limited budget for the project except for a piece of land cornered in one side by the slope of a mountain and the sea on the other side. The good mayor consulted Engineers as to the prospect of developing the property into a school facility. The story goes that all the Engineers advised as to the long term viability of the land and the risks involved in developing the accretion which during high tide is reclaimed by the sea. However, as my grandfather is head strong, he pursued in developing the place using bulldozers and pay loader. He ordered the slicing of the slope and filled the accretion with land. To this date the school stands and services the local children. Many more stories circle the life of the good mayor and it remains that people are in awe of him not just because of his political and economic prominence in the area but also because of the circumstances surrounding his success which is full of adversities - he only had an education until grade 3, he has a hard time reading and writing and he started his Bus Fleet, Rural Bank and Gasoline station by using a carabao kareta to trade abaca for paroy from Tabaco to Iriga and Ligao.
The thing with the quest for knowledge is that the more we learn, the more we realize how insignificant we are in the universe. With this thought, perhaps we should aspire not for knowledge but instead focus our resources to competence. Award the quest for truth to the conservatives and assign the bold task at hand to the progressive. The demands of our times require boldness in strategem and competence in execution. Much is to be said about the unjust social, political and economic situations about our country and much has been noted about the plight of our people.
Perhaps we must ask ourselves if remedy cannot be completely addressed in our educational institutions perhaps we can create contraptions to supplement our structural deficiency. I am reminded of a story about the glory days of my grandfather Mayor Marciano Bitara, Saning as fondly called by the locals. His predicament, a similar story to some of business magnates with limited access to education in their younger years, strikes an intellectual debate as to the proposition that education is key to our nation's liberation. The story goes that as a mayor of Malilipot, Albay, my grandfather had a huge task at hand developing the municipality in a time where the country was recovering from the ravages of World War 2. A particular project pertaining the construction of a public school facility in Barangay Sulong under his municipality. There was not much land to consider with the limited budget for the project except for a piece of land cornered in one side by the slope of a mountain and the sea on the other side. The good mayor consulted Engineers as to the prospect of developing the property into a school facility. The story goes that all the Engineers advised as to the long term viability of the land and the risks involved in developing the accretion which during high tide is reclaimed by the sea. However, as my grandfather is head strong, he pursued in developing the place using bulldozers and pay loader. He ordered the slicing of the slope and filled the accretion with land. To this date the school stands and services the local children. Many more stories circle the life of the good mayor and it remains that people are in awe of him not just because of his political and economic prominence in the area but also because of the circumstances surrounding his success which is full of adversities - he only had an education until grade 3, he has a hard time reading and writing and he started his Bus Fleet, Rural Bank and Gasoline station by using a carabao kareta to trade abaca for paroy from Tabaco to Iriga and Ligao.
Perhaps, we should re evaluate our processes. Perhaps we should define what literacy means. We are too defined by foreign multinational survey firms telling us that literacy in the Philippines is low. Perhaps they are wrong. Perhaps we must define ourselves instead of referring to foreign standards. Why do we take the pride from our magsasaka when we tell them that they are illiterate. Is it not that we are feed by the labors and dedication of this “so called” illiterate. How do we anticipate what culture this breeds among our people. Countless farming families have invested on white collar education to send their children to the city. How many families have pawned their lands to send their fathers and mothers to foreign cities to work as modern day slaves. Is this the democracy we have aspired for? Is this the type of democracy responsive to our deteriorating country?
Food is a basic commodity in every nation. What self reliance and food security do we promote in this policy when we have robbed our small farmers the pride of their profession. A visit to a local palengke will show you the most unfortunate situation of our farmers when they are forced to sell in cramped spaces when the tides of trading seem against them – trading terms, prevalence of foreign and much cheaper products.
Food is a basic commodity in every nation. What self reliance and food security do we promote in this policy when we have robbed our small farmers the pride of their profession. A visit to a local palengke will show you the most unfortunate situation of our farmers when they are forced to sell in cramped spaces when the tides of trading seem against them – trading terms, prevalence of foreign and much cheaper products.
Should we not promote agriculture as a strategic area of development which will benefit our country on the long term? Bringing down our food cost will have tremendous impact on our minimum wage earners which have apportioned 66% of their wage to high cost of living with rice at P 50 per kilo and Agri products at P 150/kilo. Patronizing our own products and investing in homegrown ventures with agriculture as base will circulate cash in the local economy and on the long term, with renewed enthusiasm on local agriculture, we can once more reclaim our lost heritage of being “Pearl of the Orient”. We must promote agriculture and its related industries as a strategic program towards a stable economy and good living standards in Philippines 2050 where we can support our own people without sending them to some foreign shores and be second class citizens.
Philippines, Mindanao for that matter, is rich in agriculture. Positioning infrastructures and business ventures in the island towards agriculture and related industries will be strategic to the local economy and the Philippines in general. Marketing, as an area of specialization in business and a core competence in entrepreneurship, must find ways in promoting Product Development and Market Research in agriculture based products in Mindanao. Porter's Five Forces Analysis would propose that this would give local entrepreneurs with advantage in Raw Material supply.
Philippines, Mindanao for that matter, is rich in agriculture. Positioning infrastructures and business ventures in the island towards agriculture and related industries will be strategic to the local economy and the Philippines in general. Marketing, as an area of specialization in business and a core competence in entrepreneurship, must find ways in promoting Product Development and Market Research in agriculture based products in Mindanao. Porter's Five Forces Analysis would propose that this would give local entrepreneurs with advantage in Raw Material supply.
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