MANILA, Philippines — The Parish Pastoral Council on Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the citizen watchdog of the Commission on Elections, is planning to bring voter education to schools through its values development program.
This is what PPCRV Head of Voter Education Committee Ana De Villa-Singson said on Tuesday, following the launch of “Tibok Pinoy” book, the council’s values development program and what they regarded as the “heart” of their voter education program.
When asked why the council chose to publish their values development through books amid the low performance of Filipino students in international assessments, De Villa-Singson answered that the council wants an organized way of teaching and learning.
READ: Voter education in schools pushed
“Where is the best way to learn? In school, ’di ba (right)? So we want to give this gravity. We want to give this seriousness. We want to give this an organized way so there is a way to be taught and a way to teach. So we want to bring it back to schools,” De Villa-Singson said in an ambush interview.
READ: PPCRV underscores Filipino values in ‘Tibok Pinoy’ book launch
“In my time, we took ethics classes. We studied about values. It was gone already, so we want to bring it back. Because organized knowledge is is still the best way to learn and if they are not into reading anymore, and that is precisely why we have to do this,” she added.
De Villa-Singson also mentioned that they have tutorials on how to use and disseminate the books to other people. She also said that trainers, partners and parochial school teachers can teach voter education to students.
“Many of the voters are actually the youth so we want to empower them through our parish network. Because after all, we are Parish Pastoral Council on Responsible Voting. So we will disseminate this through our parishes,” she noted.
Further, De Villa-Singson emphasized that parish coordinators need to customize the teachings in the books so they can easily bring the program to far-flung areas.
“That’s why we need our parish coordinators to understand that they can customize this as needed. There are a lot of exercises, but not all. You can cherry pick what will work best for you. What we’re doing is we’re giving you a menu, there will be a lot of choices,” she added.
The head of the voter education committee is also hopeful that they can partner with the Department of Education to integrate the program into the curriculum.
“We’re trying to get that appointment so hopefully we can collaborate, although we have collaboration already with CEAP [Catholic Education Association of the Philippines] and some schools. We are also thinking of collaborating with Ateneo, La Salle, and Assumption,” she said.
De Villa-Singson also shared that the books, which will be distributed for free, target children before they become first time voters. However, even if the council aims to reach an audience of 12 to 16 years old, she said that the books are good for everyone.