DepEd launches recognition program for outstanding teachers, parents

Education Sec. Sonny Angara honors teachers Ma. Lourdes Rola and Dea Gavas Solayao on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to learners. —Photo from DepEd

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) launched a recognition program to honor teachers, parents, and community partners who made a lasting impact on learners nationwide.

Tagged as the “DepEd Heroes,” the program aims to celebrate those “whose courage and service have transformed lives in and beyond the classroom and whose extraordinary dedication often escapes the spotlight of traditional award-giving bodies.”

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the initiative is meant to give lasting recognition, not fleeting applause.

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“It is time to recognize the heroism of teachers, parent-volunteers, school heads, and education partners not just on a single date, but throughout the year,” Angara said in a statement.

“Because their work never stops, and neither should our gratitude,” he added.

The first teachers to be recognized in the program were Ma. Lourdes D. Rola, Master Teacher II of Caloocan High School; and Dea Gavas Solayao, a parent-volunteer from Maybancal Elementary School in Morong, Rizal.

Rola, known as Teacher Lou, has spent over 15 years in both secondary and tertiary education. She leads Project LET IT GROW to foster resilience and a growth mindset, Project ALAB to provide resources and mentorship to disadvantaged learners, and SALIN-KULTURA to make Filipino culture come alive through interactive and community-based learning.

“To be called a hero is something I never imagined because for me, being a teacher has always been about commitment and love for our learners,” Rola said.

Solayao, or Mommy Dea in her community, began volunteering in 2020 as a Gabay Aral tutor to help children keep learning when the pandemic shut down classrooms. She later joined the Barangayan para sa Bawat Bata Bumabasa (BRB4) reading program, holding storytelling sessions under mango trees, with no chairs or blackboards, only the children’s eagerness to learn.

Through DepEd Heroes, the department aims to discover more people like Rola and Solayao, who are described as selfless individuals whose quiet service is shaping the nation’s future far beyond the halls of top-performing schools. /apl

—With reports from Nickola Marisse Nicolas, INQUIRER.net trainee