REPORT ON THE EDUCATION AGENDA

REPORT ON THE EDUCATION AGENDA
LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD


There is no debate that quality education possesses the transformative power to elevate the state of mind and improve standard of living of every person and his society.

Increasing access to quality education is vital in sustaining the growth trajectory of the city as the hub and leader of the region. It is a task that requires the committed participation of all sectors in the community.

Reorganization of the Local School Board

It is in this premise that the Cagayan de Oro Local School Board was reorganized through Executive Order No. 191-13 by the current administration. The composition has expanded the board by including people from the community as majority members. This includes representatives from the parents associations, inter-faith groups, academe, faculty associations and the local business clubs. This allows the community greater participation in crafting the city’s education agenda.

                 

Education Summit 2013

In order to surface the common aspirations of the stakeholders, the City Government, the Department of Education, parents and students gathered in the first city-wide Education Summit. This was facilitated by the Synergeia Foundation, Inc, a nation wide non-profit organization that partners with LGUs in improving their public school systems. The Education Summit was then followed by various workshops on school governance, parenting and student leadership.

Public-Private Partnership

Ayala Foundation

Recognizing the convenience and efficiency that come with modern-day technology, the City joined forces with Ayala Foundation, Inc., among others, in bringing the Text2Teach Program to the schools of Cagayan de Oro. The Program is geared towards the use of advanced mobile communications technology in providing public elementary schools with educational videos and lesson guides on hard-to-teach concepts and least-learned competencies in such subjects as English, Mathematics, Science, and Values Education.

The AFI-spearheaded program shares the City’s desire to encourage cooperation among the public, private and civil society sectors at the local and global levels.

Seeing the competency level of education in Cagayan de Oro, Mayor Oscar Moreno embarks on a new project with Ayala Foundation, Inc. and other alliance, aiming to equip teachers in all 69 public elementary schools here with the international standard teaching set by UNESCO. Text2Teach gave away various instructional materials including a 32-inch LCD television, cellphone and SIM packs and other materials – a total of 215 complete packages have been given to date.

PLDT

PLDT, in collaboration with the UP Open University (UPOU), DepEd, TESDA, and the City will implement the 2014 Infoteach Outreach Program. The goal is to enable the participants to acquire the digital skills for the 21st-Century teaching, learning and working. The program has three components: The training of trainers, the roll-out of training programs and the HomeDSL Broadband Quiz Contest.

Jollibee Foundation

Knowing fully well that the children’s nutrition is among the very factors to take into consideration in the holistic approach to education, the City Government ventured into a partnership with Jollibee Foundation, Inc. and launched the “Busog, Lusog, Talino” Program.

The BLT Program is a continuous feeding program spearheaded by the City Government and Jollibee Foundation, with the assistance of various private organizations, sectors and civic groups, and will be implemented throughout the schools of Cagayan de Oro.

Abot Alam

To further reach greater lengths and cater to the Out-of-School Youth (OSY), The City Government committed itself in the implementation of the ABOT ALAM Program, with the Executive Order signed by no other than the Mayor and Dingdong Dantes, Ambassador of National Youth Commission, in the presence of the Local School Board, Youth Representatives and the local media.

The program aims to ensure that no Filipino youth will be left behind. It is another step in the effort to reintegrate OSYs into the education system and the database will be a tool to identify who they are, and the possible ways to help them. Abot Alam’s goal is to consolidate efforts among different sectors to equip our OSYs with the needed knowledge and skills that will enable them to go back to schoool, get employed or go into business.

School Construction

Since July of 2013, the acquisition of school sites, and the construction and rehabilitation of school building and classrooms have been aggressive and unrelenting. These classrooms are widepread in the different barangays of the city, and have been used since then. Now, we can cater to a wider population, thanks to the infrastructures made available for use.

The City has already turned-over most of the newly constructed school buildings, with the recent ceremonies held at Dansolihon National High School, Balulang National High School, Tumpagon National High School, and Man-ai National High School, to name a few. In allocating the construction of classrooms, the Mayor’s priority is to address the shortage of classrooms in the High School Annexes so that the latter may enjoy the freedom to use their own classrooms in their own campus

Challenges Ahead

Aside from investing in infrastructure, the people and city should also invest in third-party monitoring and accountability systems. It must be looked into and deployed such as Check My School initiative among others. This should be done in the barangay-level (School Governance Board) and the city-level (Local School Board). This allows government to assess itself and the people to participate directly in monitoring the public investments in education.

The school board shall develop an online communication portal where it can publish all its deliberations and biddings with regards to the purchase and constructions of lands and buildings.

In addition to the trainings being conducted, the members of the local school board shall be given regular trainings by an independent third party on procurement procedures, best practices on education and other skill sets to make their representation more deliberative and effective.

Education year end report from Ernesto Neri

#FOINow!

ORO YOUTH DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL 
GOOD GOVERNANCE ADVOCACY  
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 

The Oro Youth Development Council together with the National Youth Commission, Xavier University Governance and Leadership Institute, BALAOD ATENISTA and The MUST Student Government organized the first Citywide forum on the Youth’s role in public accountability which centers on the Freedom of Information Bill on November 25, 2016 at the Mindanao University of Science and Technology Engineering Complex AVR .

The forum was participated by High School student leaders, college student governments, political science students and other members of the Oro Youth Development Council network.

The OYDC advocates for good governance and it believes that the passage of an FOI bill addresses concretely the desire of the people to have an accountable and transparent government. Corrupt politicians will find lesser incentive in hiding their trails since the process is open up to the public. In the long-run, it discourages the political culture to burry their evil design and all together discourages corrupt politicians to aspire for office. 

The forum highlights how a modern democracy can be strengthened because the law mandates prompt release of information under the pain of penalties. It also penalizes selective and uneven release of information and specifically enumerates the exceptions.

Rappler, a social news network, noted these common features in the laws they studied:

• an overall policy making information available
• limits of access
• prescribed process by which information may be accessed, cost of access, and processes for appealing request refusals
• in recent cases measures to ensure that access policies are enforced through oversight bodies and penalty clauses

The official government website, gov.ph also provides with these basic question and answer.

Q AND A

Who can ask for information?

Every Filipino citizen.

To whom can we ask for information?

All government agencies (specifically defined under section 3 of the proposed bill).

What information will be made available?

All information pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as government 

research data used as a basis for policy development, regardless of its physical form or format.

What information will remain classified? (See Section 7 for specific details.)

• Information specifically authorized to be kept secret under guidelines established by an executive order, and properly classified.
• The records of minutes and advice given and opinions expressed during decision-making or policy formulation, invoked by the Chief Executive to be privileged by reason of the sensitivity.
• Information pertaining to internal and/or external defense, law enforcement, and border control.
• Drafts of orders, resolutions, decisions, memoranda, or audit reports by any executive, administrative, regulatory, constitutional, judicial, or quasi-judicial body.
• Information obtained by any committee of either house of Congress in executive session.
• Personal information of a natural person other than the requesting party. (See Section 6f for details.)
• Information pertaining to trade secrets and commercial or financial information that would seriously prejudice industrial, financial, or commercial competition. (See Section 6g for details.)
• Information classified as privileged communications in legal proceedings by law or by the Rules of Court.
• Information exempted by law or the Constitution.

What are the advantages of this bill compared to the prior bills filed in Congress?

• This proposed bill expanded access to financial information, such as SALNs of government officials, and access to other kinds of information, such as transactions by incorporating a provision making the posting/publication mandatory. (See list in Sections 7 and 8.)
• The public is spared the tedious work of trying to access certain information from different agencies when the information is made available in one portal, the Official Gazette website (www.gov.ph) being the official publication for the following information:

– Important legislative acts and resolutions of a public nature of the Congress of the Philippines;
– Executive and administrative orders and proclamations of general application;
– Decisions or abstracts of decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals or other courts of similar rank, as may be deemed of sufficient importance to be so published;
– Such documents or classes of documents as the President shall determine to have general application.

• The bill asks government agencies to translate key information into major Filipino languages and present them in popular form and means. 
• All government agencies are required to prepare a Freedom of Information Manual that will contain details and procedures and serve as a guide on the matter.
• The bill integrates open data provisions, which mandates a regular and pro-active release of government data in open and machine-readable formats.

Procedure of access (Refer to Section 18 for specifics on the matter.)

1.     Request

Submit a request to the government agency concerned either personally, by mail, or through electronic means.

 2.     Receiving

The request will be stamped by the government agency, indicating the date, time, and other details of receipt (refer to Section 16b). In case the request is submitted by electronic means, the government agency shall provide for an equivalent means by which the requirements shall be met.

3.     Waiting time

The government agency shall comply with such request as soon as practicable, and in any case within 15 working days from receipt. The period may be extended for specific cases. (Refer to Section 16e.)

4.     Notification

The government agency shall, in writing or through electronic means, notify the person making the request of the extension, the reasons for extension, and the date the information will be made available (no more than 20 working days).

5.     Grant and Payment

Once a decision is made to grant the request, the person making the request shall be notified of such and pay the required access and processing fees.

What will happen if my request is not granted?

• The government agency shall notify the person making the request of such denial in writing or through electronic means within 15 working days from the receipt of the request.
• The notice shall clearly set forth the ground for denial and the circumstances on which the denial is based. Failure to notify shall be deemed a denial of the request for access to information.
• Following the proper procedure, denial of a request for access to information may be appealed to the head of agency, then Ombudsman, then a verified petition for mandamus may be filed in the proper court.
• The Judiciary shall however will be governed by such remedies as promulgated by the Supreme Court.

Is the Admin Bill a watered down version of the previously filed bills in Congress?

• No. The Admin Bill in fact expanded the list of mandatory information for disclosure, provided a specific procedure for access, stated the exemptions in a very clear and transparent manner, and directed that the exemptions are to be strictly construed.

What is the status of FOI?

• Now that the FOI has been approved on the committee level in both the Senate and House, the bill will be taken up in plenary.

How does FOI relate to the other governance reforms under the Aquino Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Plan 2012-2016?

• Greater access to information will, in general, empower citizens to hold their public officials accountable and to participate in government processes that are being opened to them by this administration. For instance, greater access to information on government projects through open governance initiatives such as Open Data Philippnes will allow civil society organizations to make more meaningful and accurate inputs to the Participatory Budget and Participatory Audit processes that this administration has initiated. The mandatory posting of SALNs will also empower our government investigators and their citizen-partners to run after corrupt officials.

Sources

(1) Senate Bill No. 1733

(2) House Bill No. 3237

(3) 1987 Constitution

(4) Proposed bill – FOI Act of 2013

A STATEMENT ON THE ZERO ALLOCATION BY THE CITY COUNCIL FOR PYAP AND OYDC IN THE 2015 CITY BUDGET

#PAGSURE!

A STATEMENT ON THE ZERO ALLOCATION BY THE CITY COUNCIL FOR PYAP AND OYDC IN THE 2015 CITY BUDGET

The Oro Youth Development Council, a coalition of different youth volunteer organizations from 7 sectors (In school, out of school, faith based, community based, Special needs, Muslim, Indigenous Peoples) is deeply disappointed and immensely frustrated over the results of the 2015 City Council budget deliberation with respect to the youth programs of the local government unit.

The proposed appropriation ordinance for CY 2015 of the City Council reveals painfully deep cuts in the special youth programs of the executive budget:

YOUTH PROGRAMS	Past Actual CY 2013	Current Year Estimate CY 2014	EXECUTIVE BUDGET CY 2015	PROPOSED ORDINANCE BY 2015 CITY COUNCIL	DECREASE	PERCENTAGE %
Training Conventions for PYAP (Out of School)	None	100,000.00	2,000,000.00	0	2,000,000.00	-100%
Practical Skills Development	18,000.00	100,000.00	1,000,000.00	18,000.00	982,000.00	-98%
Oro Youth Development Program	None	-None	1,447,000.00	0	1,447,000.00	-100%
Educational Assistance Program - College	157,501.00	500,000.00	1,000,000.00	160,000.00	840,000.00	-84%

We are mindful that the City Council, as the local legislative body posses the power of the purse. However, we are also keenly aware that the legislative body is suppose to be the representative of the people, the repository of the sovereign will of the people of the locality. The City Council seems to overlook the glaring fact that nearly one-third of the people of this city are under the youth age bracket and the budgetary allocation is designed to provide support services particularly for this segment in our society.

Though we are also mindful that the CSWD has in its MOOE an allocation for the youth sector, the allocation there are for the line of services it regularly offers to the marginalized youth. It is indeed the office's mandate to care of the most vulnerable in our city and we are happy at least that the regular programs are sustained. However, considering that Cagayan de Oro is the 3 richest city outside Metro Manila and a leader in the Island and the region, it is but justifiable that we entrain innovations in the delivery and approach on youth services. We do not want to only offer social nets but we hope that the city can become a pontent force in empowering the youth to engage in governance. The OYDC is an example of that attempt to innovate and the budget we proposed would at least sustain the effort that the council has initiated. 

Let us be clear on this matter. The Oro Youth Development Council is first and foremost a citizen-led and volunteer group recognized through executive order 72-2014. We constructively engage in our own volition. This desire to engage governance is solely compelled by our sense of duty and mission that we can influence our public institutions to be more participatory and inclusive.

We are neither paid nor offered pecuniary benefits for our work in the local government unit. Our only return is knowing that we are doing our part for the city we love.

Our budget proposal does not have any indication that we are here to be compensated. The bulk of the budget is for necessary administrative expenses for forums, studies, consultations, project and organizational support for youth groups engaging in the 5 thematic areas (Public quality education, Disaster preparedness and solid waste management, peace and order, health and good governance) articulated in the Local Youth Development Agenda by the youth themselves during the March 22, 2014 Youth Leaders’ Summit.

This act of the City Council delivers a strong message among the youth especially to those who dedicate their time and effort for the development of the city that they can be and are just taken for granted. It shows that their presence is unimportant in the civic life of the community and their desire for strategic development can be easily dismissed. The act somehow tells us that the youth is not worth the greater investment even though this amount is just a drop in the bucket – a minuscule 0.2% of total budget based on current year estimates.

For the sake of argument, even if the offices in charge of youth affairs did not properly substantiate the items and defend it properly to the last detail, the item should not be automatically slashed to zero. The City Council should at least allocate a reasonable seed amount.  Because the Constitution of the Republic itself recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation building, the City Council should be aware that in case of doubt, rule in favor of the youth sector. This did not happen in our case.

We are also aware that 10% of the Barangay funds are already allocated for Youth programs and therefore may lead to the conclusion that the youth does not need any support from the city level anymore. This logic misses the point that a convergence of efforts in a city level is necessary for a city to compete and develop a more cohesive development direction for the youth.

Furthermore, PYAP or the Pagasa Youth Association of the Philippines, which is a support group for out-of-school-youth, has also been given zero budget. The Out of School youth is considered a vulnerable sector, which requires society’s utmost attention and care. This action of giving them virtually nothing adds insult to injury.

Sadly, the action of the City Council to sustain the status quo in the backdrop of greater city revenue generation is a major setback in our institutional efforts to make Cagayan de Oro a leading city for youth empowerment. This however does not derail our desire to serve. It only galvanizes us to be more creative and resourceful in sourcing funds.

If there is one thing clear about this matter, it is revealing to the public the priority and the quality or lack thereof of the Local Legislators who voted for this measure. This could have been a strategic investment for the local government unit where convergence of youth efforts for community development can effectively be facilitated and directed. However, they do not seem to see the value, necessity and importance of that vision.

The Youth of the City will not forget.