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Keep graduation rites simple, DepEd reminds schoolsFebruary 27, 2015 7:13pm

Department of Education The Department of Educa-tion on Friday stressed that

graduation ceremonies at public schools should be meaningful but simple. “While graduation rites mark a milestone in the life of the graduates, these should be conducted without excessive spending, extravagant attires, or extrava-

gant venues,” Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC said in a press statement. Luistro said expenses for graduation rites should be charged against the Maintenance and Other Op-erating Expenses (MOOE) budgets of schools.“Contribution for the an-nual yearbook, if any, should be on a voluntary basis,” he said, adding Par-

ent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) can contribute but on a voluntary basis. He added attendance at fieldtrips, film showinga, Junior/Senior (JS)Promenade and other school events should not be made requirements for graduation. The graduation ceremo-nies should be scheduled either on March 26 or 27, 2015. — JDS, GMA

House arrest kay Enrile

Ayaan ang korte ang mag-pasya, ayon sa Palasyo

February 28, 2015 3:26pm Ang Sandiganbayan umano ang magpapasya kung dapat paya-gan na ma-house arrest si Senate mi-nority leader Juan Ponce Enrile,ayon sa Malacañang nitong Sabado.Sa ngayon, sinabi ni deputy presi-dential spokesperson Abigail Valte na hindi natatalakay kay Pangulong Be-

nigno Aquino III ang naturang usapin “It would be eventually the court that would decide should the side of Sen. Enrile move to have him placed under house arrest,” paliwa-nag ni Valte sa panayam ng dzRB radio. Kasalukuyang nakaratay ang 91-anyos na si Enrile sa Makati Medi-cal Center matapos siyang isugod sa nabanggit na ospital noong Huwebes ng madaling araw dahil sa pneumonia. Bago nito, naka-hospital ar-

rest si Enrile sa Philippine National Po-lice (PNP) General Hospital dahil sakinakaharap niyang kasong katiwalian dahil sa umano’y maanomalyang pag-gamit ng kaniyang pork barrel funds. Dahil sa kalagayan ni Enrile, il-ang mambabatas, kabilang na sina Vicente SottoIIIatJoseVictorEjercito,angnag-mungkahi na i-house arrest na lamang ang beteranongsenador.--LBG,GMANews

POEA investigates death of OFW in Saudi Arabia; raps vs. recruiter eyedFebruary 27, 2015 7:07am The Philippine Overseas Employment

Administration is looking into the reported death of an overseas Fili-pino worker in Saudi Arabia, even as it eyes charges against the OFW’s r e c r u i t m e n t firm for pos-sible violation of regulations.POEA ad-

ministrator Hans Leo Cacdac on Thurs-day night said, “Wala pong whitewash sa imbestigasyon sa pagkamatay ng kasambahay sa Saudi na si Rochelle Lechido Masubay noong 2014.” In a post on his Twitter ac-count, Cacdac also said, “Tahasan po nat-ing aalamin kung ano ang nangyari... at kung bakit hindi nagbigay ng report ang recruiter ni Rochelle patungkol dito, at kung bakit tila hindi nagpakatotoo ang recruiter sa mga kaanak [ng biktima].”“Inatasan ko na po ang POEA Adju-dication Office na magsampa ng kasolaban sa Fors International at Asas for

Recruitment, at magpataw ng preven-tive suspension alinsunod sa POEA Rules and Regulations,” he added. He said the matter was brought to his attention by militant migrant work-ers’ group Migrante International. Cacdac said that while Masu-bay’s kin and her recruiter Fors Interna-tional had signed a compromise agree-ment with quit claim and release, such an agreement cannot be used to deny Masubay of her rights or her benefits. Also, he said Fors International and its Saudi partner Asas may have much to explain, particularly how she died and why details of her death remain hazy.“Paano nabawian ng buhay si Rochelle? Bakit tila inilihim ang kanyang pagka-matay? Bakit hindi nagsumite ng re-port patungkol dito sa POEA? May ginawa ba ang Fors International at Asas for Recruitment para masabing binantayan nila ang kalagayan ni Ro-chelle, mula nang nakarating siya sa Saudi noong Mayo 2014?” Cacdac said.“At bakit tila walang hayag na pagbibig-ay-alam na may mga benepisyo ang mga tagapagmana ni Rochelle, katulad ng com-pulsory insurance indemnity na sang-ayon sa Republic Act No. 10022?” he added. Migrante International said Masubay died under “myste-rious circumstances,” saying the death was declared a suspected sui-

cide but her family suspects foul play.It questioned the “quit-claim” and “com-promise agreement” the OFW’s kin were supposedly made to sign as require-ment for the repatriation of her remains. Migrante said Masubay is a na-tive of Tacloban City and a mother of two. She was deployed to Saudi Arabia by Fors Recruitment Agency on May 25, 2014.“Her common-law husband Rodolfo Malinao was able to talk to her for the last time on June 26, 2014. De-spite multiple efforts, he was not able to contact or talk to her since,” it said. Last January, Malinao wentto the office of Fors RecruitmentAgency to report her missing wife, and was told she died on October 16, 2014, and that she committed suicide.ButMigrantesaidthedeathcertificatein-dicatesherdateofdeathonJuly1,2014.Last February 3, Malinao went to the POEA to arrange for the repatriation of her remains and secured her death cer-tificate from the SaudiMinistry of Inte-riorCivilAffairsandacertificationfromthe Philippine Consulate in Jeddah rul-ing “suicide” as the cause of her death.He was also asked to sign a “quit claim” in exchange for P119,240 from a certain Pioneer Insurance Agency.“In the document, Malinao was asked to state thathewouldnotfileanycriminal

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or civil complaint against Fors Recruit-ment Agency, the POEA or ‘any ad-ministrative agency,’” the group said. Migrante added Malinao claimed that he was forced to sign the document because they told him

that it was the only way to expedite the repatriation of his wife’s remains. Masubay’s remains arrived in Tacloban last February 14. Her neighbors and friends in Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City in Metro Manila held a candle-

lighting activity calling for justice forher. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News

DepEd hiring 39,000 teachers next year

by Ina Hernando MalipotOctober 9, 2014 Share this:The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday said that it will hire over 39,000 teachers for school year 2015 – 2016 which accounts for the biggest chunk of the department’s Php 365 bil-lion budget next year. Education Secretary Armin Luistro said that DepEd will hire a total of “39,066 new teachers in 2015 with a budget of about Php 9.5 billion.” Included in the hiring program are the locally-paid teachers “who are eligible and are included in the rank-ing.” Currently, the Local School Board (LSB) manages the Special Education Fund(SEF)oftheLGUandisin-chargeo f LSB-hired teach-ers. L u i s t r o

noted that t h e r e w e r e 18,447 L S B -h i r e d teach-ers ab-sorbed in the

national plantilla in

the last two years 12,901

w e r e hired in 2013 and 5,546 teachers in 2014. There are only 4,036 remain-ing LSB-hired teachers who are quali-fiedbuthavenotyetbeenabsorbed,”headded. Aside from the hiring of teach-

ers, Luistro said that DepEd has allotted a Php 2 billion-budget for Human Re-source Training and Development for 2015.“Around Php 1.5 billion will [also] be used for retooling of teachers during our summer K to 12 training,” Luistro said. The rest, he added, will be downloaded to the DepEd Divisions for their in-ser-vice training for new teachers. Luistro was grateful for the DepEd budget for 2015 which he said “was the biggest budget in the history” not only of the Department but also of the country.In a related development, Luistro said that when it comes to “trained and qual-ified”teachers,thePhilippinesisaheadofothercountries,inresponsetoaUnit-edNations Educational, Scientific andCulturalOrganization(UNESCO)state-ment that said “The Philippines, like in many other countries of the region, the lack of trained teachers, especially in critical early grades and in disadvan-taged areas remains a problem.” UNESCO, in a policy paperpublished on October 5 in time for 2014 World Teachers’ Day (WTD) celebra-tion, said that “chronic lack of trained teachers” remains a challenge in achiev-ing the Education For All (EFA) goals and “without action, it will be impos-sible to get all children into school by 2030.” Luistro, while taking into ac-count the UNESCO report, explainedthat the so-called “chronic lack of trained teachers” might not be appli-cable to the Philippines. “If we look at it in the region, we are among the leading countries whenitcomestoqualificationofteach-ers,” he explained. In the regions, Luistro also

noted that the Philippines is also among those countries that require teachers to pass licensure examination before they are allowed to teach.“ We’re [actually] advanced compared to other countries when it comes to requirements for teachers be-cause they don’t have a benchmark if you can teach or not,” he added.

Kristine Cabayag We are almost 200 plus teacher applicants na nakasali sa RQA 2014 here in our city, but then almost 10 lang yung nadeploy,and marami kaming nghihin-tay kailan matawagan. Sana madeploy kami in any areas aside on our own locality.Very disgusting, marami naka-pasa hindi man lang nabibigyan ng pag-kakataon na magteach kahit voluntary, sa LSB naman ang hirap mg-apply,yung mga coordinator na raw ang pumili doon sa mga nakapasa.How many years that we need to re-apply again to be on top of the list of RQA,lalo na yung mga wlang kakilalang close na principal,usually kasi palakasay system.Hopefully,ibalik na lang yung policy na once makapasa sa ranking pwd ka ng matawagan kahit saang lugar kahit pa malayo as long as makaturo lang.sheryl. Sana mka pasok na ako for this sy 2015-206 Im almost 3years in ser-vice as volunteer sa bundok marami na ang applicants wala na mang item

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