Grads gold medals for real, for sale

MONKAYO, Compostela Valley—They’re worth their weight in gold—but they’ve been sold.

The village secretary of Barangay Diwalwal here said its officials have considered passing an ordinance that would prevent gold medals awarded to honor students from falling into the hands of the wrong persons such as gold traders.

Jojo Diosala said it has come to the attention of the village council that some parents have pawned or sold their children’s gold medals.

“We conducted an inventory of the awarded medals and found out that majority of the recipients no longer have the medals in their possession. What’s worse, many of the tokens ended up melted and in the hands of gold buyers for very low prices. The medals have lost their value,” he said.

Despite this, the awarding of real gold medals to honor students here will continue, even with its skyrocketing price and the scarcity of donors, village officials said.

Started nine years ago by the village’s former barangay captain Francisco Tito, the awarding of real gold medals “which weighs about 10 grams each” were aimed at motivating students to be achievers.

Twenty-two-year-old Marie Apple Lacerna, who received a total of four gold medals since 2004, said financial difficulties had forced her parents to pawn her medals for about P3,000 each or less than one-fourth of their real value.

They were no longer able to redeem the medals, said Lacerna, who now works as a saleslady for a small-time retail store in her village.

Another gold medal recipient, 21-year-old Aileen Barte, sold her 2005 award for just over a thousand pesos.

“My mother had the medal melted and sold. I used the money to buy my uniform for the second year,” said Barte, who completed high school without honors.

Like the two girls, financial hardship also drove Jowalnie Bangcola’s mother to sell her two medals. The daughter of a Muslim trader has been a consistent honor student since elementary and is one of the candidates for valedictorian in next week’s high school graduation.

“We used to be well-off. We owned a ball mill (a kind of ore-crusher facility), a store and other businesses here. But when Papa got sick last year, those businesses crumbled. Mama was forced to sell even my medals and that of my brother’s to help pay Papa’s hospital bills,” the 16-year-old girl said.

Despite their efforts, Jowalnie’s father succumbed to complications brought about by diabetes.

“If we only had another choice, I would not let my mother sell the medals. Those were very important to me,” she said.

To reduce no. of medals

To continue with the nine-year tradition, Councilor Bonifacio Libres said they may have to reduce the number of medals to be handed out.

“You see, we are facing hard times here. Donations [of gold nuggets] were slow. Prices of gold are up but production in the mines is low,” he said, citing that a gram of gold now fetches up to P2,000.

Since it started in 2003, 10 medals were given annually—one for each of the top five achievers of every level in elementary and high school. Libres would not say how many medals will be awarded this year with the planned cut in its number.

To buy back

Rodolfo Boyles, Diwalwal village chief, said what is important is that the tradition would continue.

Boyles said the village would set up funds to buy back the medals from their cash-strapped holders.

“It’s heartbreaking to hear stories about the medals being melted and sold. Although we understood that poverty forced them to do it, they should have at least informed us. They could have sold the medals to us instead,” Boyles said.

Besides, the medals can be reused, which would solve the growing problem on base material, he said.

Diosala said the council is also looking at the possibility of crafting an ordinance that would penalize parents who would have the medals melted without the council’s permission.