He’s coming ’round the mountain
The typical nine-to-five schedule will not cover all the things Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC has and wants to do in a day.
One of the most hardworking Cabinet members, Luistro crams meetings, reading and signing of hefty documents, implementing programs, strategizing and concretizing plans, managing people and so much more into a typical working day.
Even a weekend in the scenic Cordillera mountains had to be filled with visits to schools and Department of Education (DepEd) division offices.
After a K to 12 steering committee meeting at the DepEd’s main office on Friday, Luistro drove to Ifugao with DepEd officials Dr. Ma. Corazon Lopez (head of the external relations group), Rozanno Rufino (coordinator of the indigenous peoples education office) and executive assistant Lester Ian Saulog.
The trip through winding roads, quite tricky under normal circumstances, was made even more difficult by heavy rains and traffic jams due to road construction projects. But the secretary’s convoy never turned on the wang-wang (siren) to get ahead of other motorists.
Luistro was visibly dismayed by the streamers with his photo and name hung along the road to welcome him.
But what could he do? These were the Cordilleras, the roads less traveled, the villages seldom graced by VIPs. Here the secretary was treated like a rock star at every stop, whether it be a school or a DepEd office.
Photo-op
Teachers and administrators lined up to have a photo taken with him. Luistro, at one point, had to say “last na” just so he could keep up with his itinerary.
He stopped briefly at the DepEd office in Lamut, Ifugao, to meet local teachers and school heads before proceeding to the province’s capital town of Lagawe, where he spent the night.
In the morning, over breakfast of local cuisine, including the chicken delicacy pinikpikan, he had a meeting at the Lagawe DepEd office with regional director Ellen B. Donato, Ifugao schools division superintendent Estela L. Cariño, Rep. Teodoro B. Baguilat and Gov. Eugene M. Balitang.
They discussed local problems, like the inadequate power supply. Luistro suggested the use of renewable energy sources like solar and hydropower.
On the way to Banaue from Lagawe, a small group of grade school students stood by the highway, each child waving a flag to welcome the secretary.
But because of his busy schedule, Luistro could not stop. He told the DepEd officials from Lagawe, during a stopover at Banaue Hotel, that he appreciated the effort but felt sorry for the kids who had to wake up early and wait long by the roadside.
“Never do that again,” the secretary said in jest.
The stopover at Banaue Hotel allowed the secretary to chat with Balitang about the state of the rice terraces. The latter explained that many tourists had been complaining about the houses sprouting around the terraces that tended to spoil the grandiosity of the view. The governor honestly admitted that relocating the families would mean fewer votes in the elections.
Going to Gohang National High School was heart-stopping. The convoy had to maneuver less than a meter from the edge of steep, muddy roads while avoiding the students who were walking alongside on the way to their school.
The school was filled with students, teachers, parents and kibitzers who were all excited to see a government official from the national level for the first time.
Luistro, upon arrival, was elated to watch a ritual dance performance by Ifugao natives.
Like paradise
At the commencement rites, the secretary spoke of his admiration for the rich culture and the paradise-like place of the Ifugaos.
“This morning was one of the best mornings in my life,” Luistro said. He then described how he saw God’s face in the beautiful rice fields facing the silhouette of a mountain topped by the rising sun. He also heard birds chirping.
The secretary urged the new graduates, their teachers and parents to use their local culture to forge an educational system responsive to their place of origin and faithful to the Ifugao spirit but at par with the conventional curriculum.
“Whenever I see the payo (rice terraces), I think to myself, does it not have math in it? Isn’t there engineering in it?” Luistro said in Filipino to the Ifugaos.
“You have a lot to tell us about the Filipino way of thinking. I think you will help the nation discover the Filipino spirit. National heritage brings a profound wisdom that can never be found in books.”
The graduation rites were highlighted by the launch of the Special Secondary School for the Conservation of the Ifugao Rice Terraces (SSSCIRT), situated near the hilly part of the school beside its covered court.
A native hut and a miniature payo were built there to serve as a classroom where the next generation of Ifugaos could learn how to appreciate and preserve their heritage.
Luistro led the ribbon cutting. He then drank rice wine as part of the ceremony and danced with the natives to celebrate the opening of the SSSCIRT.
Adopted son
Luistro was made an adopted son of Banaue and given the local name Kimmayong, after a legendary ancestor who was an icon of education and peace.
He further underscored the importance of indigenous people (IP) education in visits to Bontoc and Sagada in Mountain Province.
In Bontoc, Luistro met with Dr. Dennis Faustino, headmaster of St. Mary’s School (SMS) in Sagada, and the alumni and board members of All Saints Mission School.
Faustino, who revived SMS in 2005 after it almost closed down due to financial problems, has already added a fifth year to high school and has been promoting cultural understanding.
Luistro and Faustino joined Mountain Province schools division superintendent Mary Lang-ayan, Sagada Mayor Eduardo Latawan Jr. and Rep. Maximo Dalog on the last two days of the visit to promote IP education and the K to 12 program.
Before an audience of about 500 students, teachers, principals and school administrators at the SMS gymnasium, Luistro tried to clarify issues regarding K to 12.
Luistro said the K to 12 program did not have to be followed to the letter.
“The curriculum is only a guide,” he explained. “What you see in the K to 12 curriculum is only the minimum. I expect the public and private schools, especially the private schools, to do more.”
He also stressed how the local culture was significant in the learning process as a means of “breaking away” from the Western paradigm.
“It takes a dap-ay to educate a child,” he said, a variation of the saying “It takes a village to educate a child.”
A dap-ay is a place where the indigenous people of Mountain Province gather to discuss community problems, the intervals filled with dances, songs and rituals.
The trip farther north had been risky, with muddy roads, falling rocks and steep slopes. Not to mention that the secretary’s car also suffered a flat tire. But it had been a weekend worth it all for the education secretary.
