KEY TO CORRECTION

Marcos on Chinese New Year: Reflect on 2023 accomplishments

As the country commemorates the Chinese New Year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on
Saturday called on Filipinos to reflect on their accomplishments last year.
“This occasion brims with infinite opportunities as we gather to pay homage to the heritage of
the dragon, a timeless symbol of power, wisdom and courage,” Marcos said in his Chinese New
Year message.
“In its majestic presence, let us reflect on our accomplishments in the past year, cherishing the
triumphs that elevated our spirits and nourished our souls,” the President said.
The chief executive added that the triumphs, that “elevated our spirits and nourished our souls,”
would rekindle the people’s “enthusiasm and optimism” in uplifting and steering the country to
greater heights.
Marcos also urged the people “to take to heart that dreams turn into reality through firm
commitment and resolve.”
The Manila Police District on Saturday said the welcoming of Chinese New Year in Binondo,
Manila was peaceful and no untoward incident transpired and no crimes were recorded.
"I extend my heartfelt greetings to the Filipino-Chinese community and the entire nation on the
commemoration of the Chinese New Year," Marcos said.
“As one diverse yet united community, may we immerse ourselves in the richness of our cultural
identity and lay the groundwork for a more peaceful, harmonious and progressive Philippines. I
wish everyone an auspicious and bountiful Chinese New Year,” the President said.

Recto commits to tougher actions against tax

evaders
Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto vowed to enhance government enforcement actions against
tax evaders to provide support to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in boosting its tax
collections.
At the BIR’s National Tax Campaign Kick-off event, Recto has assured the unwavering support
of the Department of Finance (DOF) to the tax bureau, ensuring assistance in reaching its record
P3.5 trillion collection target.
“We will strengthen enforcement efforts against tax cheats and ensure fairness in the tax system
to build taxpayers’ trust,” Recto said.
BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr., meanwhile, assured that the bureau will persist in
conducting raids and initiating criminal cases against offenders to combat tax evasion.
The BIR's estimates indicated that the government is losing around P500 billion due to tax
evasion.
In an effort to reduce tax cheats, Lumagui said the BIR will remain focused on pursuing tax
offenders.
However, he added that the BIR is hoping for voluntary compliance from taxpayers in meeting
their tax obligations.
Meanwhile, Recto said the DOF will help the tax agency in ramping up its modernization
programs to make general tax compliance easier and taxation equitable.
The finance chief earlier emphasized the importance of Filipinos diligently fulfilling their tax
duties, highlighting their vital role in the country's development.
Recto underscored the significance of both the tax agency and taxpayers effectively fulfilling
their respective roles in advancing progress.
He stated that the responsibility of generating revenue is not solely the duty of the BIR, but
rather, "it is a shared responsibility with our taxpayers."

Sec Remulla reiterates: ICC has no

jurisdiction over PH
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla on Friday, Feb. 9, reiterated that the International
Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute any person in the
Philippines.
“Our nation, as a sovereign entity, possesses the inherent right to determine our own legal
framework and address internal matters without any interference from external bodies,” Remulla
said.
He reminded that the Philippines has already withdrawn as a part of the Rome Statute that
created the ICC and the withdrawal took effect in 2019.
“The country’s withdrawal from the ICC clearly showcases our unwavering commitment to
upholding national sovereignty and preserving the integrity of our justice system,” he pointed
out.
“We have consistently demonstrated our preparedness, willingness, and capability to thoroughly
investigate and prosecute crimes committed within our jurisdiction, ensuring that justice prevails
for all our citizens,” he stressed.
Remulla reiterated his previous statements on ICC's lack of jurisdiction amidst concerns raised
by the camp of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte over reports of issuance of warrant of arrest
by the international body.
“I would like to emphasize that any presence of international bodies within the Philippines must
adhere to our Constitution and relevant laws,” Remulla said.
“Our justice system is robust and functional, fully equipped to safeguard the rights of our people,
irrespective of their color, race, beliefs, or creed,” he assured.
On the part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), he said the department "remains resolute in our
dedication to upholding the principles of justice and the rule of law.”
“The welfare and protection of every Filipino citizen lie at the core of our mission, and we will
relentlessly defend their rights regardless of beliefs or creed. Our system has proven its efficacy,
and we will never forsake the victims. I declare with unwavering determination and conviction,
‘We will steadfastly fight for the rights of every Filipino’,” he added.

DepEd urged to address staffing

shortages to deload teachers of admin
tasks
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education’s recent order removing administrative
tasks from teachers has spurred concerns among schools grappling with staffing shortages, with
education personnel raising questions about the feasibility of transferring all administrative
duties within the mandated 60-day timeframe.
During the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2)’s meeting on
Thursday, educators from different schools in Luzon explained that while lightening teachers’
workload is an urgent need, there are not enough non-teaching personnel to deload them of
administrative duties and hiring more personnel is not a guarantee in all districts.
DepEd Order No. 2, s. 2004, issued on January 26, transfers all administrative tasks from
teachers to school heads and non-teaching personnel. School division offices (SDOs) are
required to relieve teachers' of administrative tasks within a transitory period of 60 days.
One teacher from Metro Manila whom EDCOM introduced as “Teacher Julie” told lawmakers
and DepEd officials that there is only one administrative officer (AO) in her school, which has a
population of more than 2,300 students (as of SY 2022-2023).
Julie said that while non-teaching tasks are divided among teachers and the administrative
officer, some of the more time-consuming tasks handled by teachers are in relation to registrar
duties, DepEd’s feeding program, guidance and counseling, managing the canteen, among others.
“We know the memo is good-intentioned but our question as people on the field is: Who’s going
to take over the work?” Julie asked in a mix of English and Filipino, adding that the school head
and the lone administrative officer cannot take on all the work.
A school principal based in Region 4A who handles a small school with just over 200 students
raised the same need for DepEd to hire more administrative staff.
Overwhelmed by administrative burdens even before the DepEd order, she stressed that it is
impractical to expect her to shoulder everything to comply with the DepEd order, given that their
school does not have administrative staff.

“The first reaction that our teachers had with the DO was: ‘Ma’am, who is going to help you
with all this if you’re the only admin here?” the principal said.
While the SDO has already assigned a clustered AO (administrative officer that is assigned to
more than one school) to their school, the principal said that small schools like hers also require
dedicated AOs as they submit the same reports as bigger schools.
AOs are already “overwhelmed” during the transition period, the principal added.
The DepEd order instructs SDOs to hire more non-teaching personnel and charge the funds
against their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOEs) budget.
However, EDCOM 2 has pointed out in its Year One report that 30%–70% of MOOE budgets of
schools are spent on utility bills alone, leaving little funds to bankroll other school needs and
initiatives to improve learning.
During the meeting, DepEd Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral explained that schools with not
enough non-teaching personnel will be assigned AOs by clusters. A funding of P300 million will
also be sourced from the DepEd Central Office to hire more personnel, Cabral said.
Asked if the cluster strategy has been effective in relieving teachers of administrative tasks,
Cabral said that it has been akin to a “workaround” given the size of DepEd.
Vice President and Education Secretary Duterte earlier said the department would hire 5,000
administrative personnel this year.
DepEd has 7,239 unfilled non-teaching positions, which would take P1.6 billion in total to fill.
While the Teachers' Dignity Coalition welcomed the DepEd order, they also said that the hiring
of 10,000 administrative staff last year falls short of providing one AO per school, considering
there are approximately 47,000 public schools nationwide.

DepEd says some PISA takers lacked

basic computer skills
MANILA, Philippines — A number of Filipino students who answered the PISA assessment in
2022 did not know how to use computers and struggled to learn amid an inadequate number of
equipment in their schools, two Department of Education regional offices said on Wednesday.
During a Senate hearing on the country’s PISA 2022 results, the DepEd regional directors of
CAR and CALABARZON said that several schools also had to borrow or crowdsource
computers from nearby schools and non-government organizations to accommodate all their
PISA takers on exam day.
Just less than a quarter of 15-year-old Filipino students who took the computer-based exam in
2022 reached the minimum level of proficiency in all three subjects of math, reading and
science, the latest PISA scores show.
Similar to the 2018 cycle, the Philippines performed worse than the global average in all
categories, with its placement in the country rankings moving up by just a few spots.
DepEd CAR director Estela L. Cariño told senators that several PISA takers in two public
schools in their region — considered “Last Miles” schools due to their location in a marginalized
and geographically distant area — were unfamiliar with using computers as they had yet to learn
to use these in school.
These are Sagpat Integrated School and Apayao National Industrial School, located in remote
areas in the provinces of Benguet and Apayao, respectively.
“Some didn't even know how to open (the computers),” Cariño said, adding that most students in
the two schools come from families below the poverty line.
The DepEd official explained that some of the PISA takers aged 15 were “still in Grade 7” and
had yet to take a computer class, while others were still in elementary.
Cariño added that due to the lack of computers in the two public schools, the local governments
of Apayao and Benguet and other donors stepped in to provide or lend computers.
“After finishing the exam we had to bring back the computers to the schools where they belong,”
the DepEd official said.

“When some NGOs knew that they didn't have computers, some of them donated to Sagpat
Integrated School. But of course, they (still) need more,” Cariño said.
Loida N. Nidea, DepEd CALABARZON assistant regional director, said that this was the same
case for PISA takers in Region 4A.
“We also tapped private and nearby public schools because of the need for the computers,” Nidea
added.
Around 7,000 students from 188 schools – which were randomly selected — took the test in
2022. This includes a mix of public and private schools.
In Metro Manila, out of the 21 schools that participated in PISA 2022, only six schools reached
the minimum proficiency level or essentially passed the exam. Broken down, five are private
schools while one is the Benigno Aquino High School in Makati City.
In a 2022 study, state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) flagged the
"huge" problem that DepEd schools continue to face with having enough computer packages.
The issue involves the non-achievement of targets on computer package delivery to public
schools and the lower internet access rates in all school levels.
This, PIDS said, suggests that there are "public investment problems" and an uneven
implementation of DepEd's computerization and internet connectivity initiatives.
Based on the latest DepEd data presented in the PIDS study, 18% of elementary schools, 15% of
junior high schools and 18% of senior high schools have no access to computers for pedagogical
purposes.

Only 1 public school in NCR got passing

mark in 2022 PISA
Only one public school in Metro Manila scored above the minimum proficiency level in the
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 global comprehension survey, a
Department of Education (DepEd) official said Wednesday.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, DepEd National Capital Region
(NCR) director Jocelyn Andaya said only Benigno S. Aquino High School in Makati City made
the cut out of all Metro Manila public schools in the study.
Aside from Benigno S. Aquino High School, five more schools passed the assessment but they
were all private schools, Andaya said.
"In NCR, there was just one from the public [schools] of the 21 [that participated in PISA]... It's
Benigno Aquino [High School]," she said.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which
conducts the study, the 2022 PISA covered reading, mathematics, and science, plus an evaluation
of students' creating thinking and financial literary skills. The major focus was on mathematics.
Senator Win Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Basic Education chairperson, said the
PISA results can be used in coming up with solutions to address the issues in the Philippines'
education system.
"How do we go up? How do we implement solutions so that we will improve learner
performance?" Gatchalian said.
For her part, Senator Nancy Binay said she analyzed the current methods of teaching in schools
and suggested that actual applications of lessons be taught instead of asking students to just
memorize them.
"It's difficult to break old habits. The big question is how do we teach our new teachers? Maybe
it's time to revisit and change the curriculum on how we are teaching our teachers as well,"
Binay said.
Based on the 2022 PISA results, the Philippines placed as the sixth lowest among the 81
countries and economies participating in the study.

Filipino learners also continued to lag behind in mathematics and reading comprehension.
In the Philippines, a total of 7,193 students in 188 schools completed the assessment in
mathematics, reading or science, representing about 1,782,900 individual 15-year-old students,
or an estimated 83% of the total population of 15-year-olds, according to the 2022 PISA report.
Gatchalian urges effective
sexuality education rollout as
teenage pregnancies spike anew
MANILA, (PIA) -- Following a hike in pregnancies among girls below 15 years old between
2021 and 2022, Senator Win Gatchalian reiterated the need to effectively roll out the Department
of Education’s (DepEd) Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE).
“While the DepEd has a policy on implementing CSE under DepEd Order No. 31 s. 2018, there
is a need to ensure its effective implementation in schools,” Gatchalian said.
The senator filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 13 to seek an inquiry on the rising number of
adolescent pregnancies and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections among the youth.
The inquiry aims to strengthen the DepEd’s CSE.
The Commission on Population and Development (CPD) reported that between 2021 and 2022,
live births among girls 15 years old and below increased from 2,320 to 3,135, the equivalent of
35.13 percent. CPD Executive Director Lisa Bersales pointed out that while live births from girls
aged 14 and below are just 0.22 percent of the total live births, the agency is still concerned
about the spike in teenage pregnancies.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) previously flagged that adolescents who began
childbearing before the age of 18 are less likely to complete secondary education, which affects
their employment opportunities in the future.
The population body also flagged that adolescent pregnancy poses an increased risk for poor
health outcomes for both mother and child. Early pregnancy among adolescents is also
associated with the risk of having greater age differences with their partners, making them more
vulnerable to domestic violence.
“Nakakabahala ang pagdami ng bilang ng mga batang ina, lalo na’t hinaharap ng mga kabataang
ito ang panganib na matigil sa pag-aaral at makaranas ng karahasan. Mahalagang tiyakin nating
nasa paaralan ang mga babaeng mag-aaral, at matatanggap nila ang epektibong sexuality
education para sa kanilang sapat na kaalaman at proteksyon,” said Gatchalian, Chairperson of the
Senate Committee on Basic Education.

(The increase in the number of young mothers is worrying, especially since these young people
face the risk of dropping out of school and experiencing violence. It is important that we ensure
that female students are in school, and that they receive effective sexuality education for their
adequate knowledge and protection.)
Under the DepEd’s 2024 national budget, at least P100 million under the Learner Support
Programs was allotted for the implementation of the Adolescent Reproductive Health Program.
(PIA-NCR)
‘Catch-Up Fridays’ motivates
teachers to find ways to help
students cope with lessons
CALAMBA CITY, Laguna (PIA) -- The Department of Education (DepEd) recently launched
Catch-Up Fridays to provide opportunities for learners to improve their academic performance,
particularly in reading.
Teachers in Laguna share how the program benefits their overall teaching strategies.
Chinky Ruth Marilag, a Grade 4 teacher at Lopez Elementary School in Los Baños, admitted that
the implementation of Catch-Up Fridays initially came as a challenge, not only for teachers but
for learners as well.
“In Catch-Up Fridays we need to provide reading materials to our pupils in a more appetizing
and exciting way, and at the same time sustain their attention and interest for reading from
morning until the rest of the school hours,” Marilag said.
Instead of treating the program as another workload of having the need to rearrange their lesson
plans, come up with more engaging activities, and set their learning goals for the week, Teacher
Chinky now finds the program as a better alternative to help students improve their reading
ability without holding additional remedial classes beyond school hours.
The teacher said: “For us who have students classified as frustration readers, this is a positive
way to focus our efforts to them and properly guide them on how we can improve their reading
skills. Instead of extending for one to two hours for remedial classes, we can do it for a whole
day during Fridays.”
According to DepEd IV-A Education Program Supervisor Diane Catherine Teves, morning
lessons will focus on the National Reading Program, while the other half will be spent on Values,
Health, and Peace education, with themes varying each month.
Marilag said that during the first two Fridays of implementation, their school allotted the first
part of the day for DEAR or ‘Drop Everything and Read’ to ask students to do role playing to
enhance their creativity and imagination.

The teachers observed that there is a need to group the pupils according to their reading ability,
classified into three groups – independent readers, instructional readers and frustration readers, to
effectively execute their prepared programs.
DepEd IV-A supports the initiative by the teachers to use their own unique approach, based off
their classroom observations.
“Teachers also have the freedom to use an integrative approach in their teaching, where the
content of their learning area serves as a springboard to develop the students’ reading skills. This
is because the focus of Catch-Up Fridays is really on enhancing the reading skills of students,”
Teves said.
The reading program, based on the student’s skills, will also provide an inclusive learning
environment for those with difficulty in reading.
Viernalyn Nama, Curriculum and Learning Management Division chief of DepEd IV-A, stated
that the education department is committed to implement necessary technical assistance needed
by the schools in implementing the program.
“We also conduct monitoring and feedback [mechanism] with the implementers from the field
which we use as the basis for the technical assistance to provide,”
Nama added: “We also conduct regular reading assessments which can be used by the schools to
determine that there is a need to help our learners ‘catch up’ on their reading skills.” (Patricia
Bermudez, Cecilia Maloles/PIA-4A)