Osmeña Peak has become Mainstream

In 2001, we had a disco at Osmeña Peak, powered by a generator. Young people from all the barangays of Dalaguete answered the call to celebrate an electoral victory. All disco equipment were tied and hung in bamboo poles, laid on shoulders of excited men, and carried through the dangerous trek. We were guarded by armed police that night. Fog descended early, and the party lasted until dawn. Shaggy's hits, "Angel" and "It Wasn't Me", kept on playing as we danced with friends and familiar Dalaguetnon faces. It was a night to remember.

I went to the Peak this afternoon and saw a great number of unfamiliar faces; cars were lined up in Lapa at the foot of the peak; Habal2s were everywere; and stores have mushroomed. The omnipresence of visitors have rendered the stones smooth and weathered. With all the activity, inch by inch, the Peak's height is reduced; taken away by shoes which trample the loosened soil and stones.

In 2001, going to the Peak would earn you extra bragging rights. The Peak was so mysterious, captivating, and deadly then. Only very few come there. During that time, it was real communion with nature. You have to walk on a dirt road from the market to the peak. Some would opt for the shortcut where there's that spring to refill water. Going up there was really an adventure, and the arrival at the summit, is the compensation for all the hard work.

Now, people just ride to the drop off point at the foot of the peak. The road is paved today. A tourist info center has been constructed, and the path of rough-edged boulders have been hammered and chiseled smooth. Then there are these handful of self-proclaimed guides and handymen to pester you upon ascent. The variety of garbage too have significantly increased. Truly, it has evolved into a true definition of a tourist spot. Hayyyyy.... And those shirts are ought to be banned.

It is very different now.

DALAGAN PARA SA DUMALAN NHS: DALAGUETNONS AS A COMMUNITY DOING THEIR ROLE IN EDUCATION AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Participants sign their names to manifest support of this worthy cause.

In Dalaguete, we believe that education is the responsibility of everyone. We believe that it will take a village to educate a child. We believe that the future of Dalaguete is of great importance to be left solely in the hands of the teachers or principals. For education to positively change the lives of Dalaguetnon children, the government and all able-bodied citizens must give a part of themselves to help our schools. After all, as Mayor Ronald Allan Cesante puts it, “This is to ensure that the next generation of Dalaguetnons to replace us are better than us.”

As part of this strategic vision, the Municipal Government of Dalaguete (MGD) invested on links for the social capital and created an education-governance-community interface as vehicle for resource mobilization on education. Put simply, the MGD initiates activities where everyone can help our children obtain quality education as the foundation to improve their lives and sustainable development.

Following this thrust, the MGD Officials led by Acting Municipal Mayor Jeffrey Belciña through the Community Development (COMDEV) Unit under Ms. Gena Buenconsejo, the DepEd and other offices, organized the Dalagan para sa Dumalan NHS—a fun run activity for the purchase of armchairs and facilities enhancement of the newly-established Dumalan NHS. This came as a brainchild of Honorable SB Members Felix Villacorta and Hon. Royce Nikko Cesante who strongly set the objectives of the activity after seeing the needs of the Dumalan NHS students.



The Technical Working Group of the event.



The members of event committees



Held on a cool early Saturday morning of February 4, 2017, the Run finished with an overwhelming success. Over 700 runners from different walks of life registered for the 3 KM and 5 KM running categories. For the 5 KM category John Cliff Debolusan, John Darryl Manos, and Ricky Amamangpang won the first, second, and third places respectively. On the other hand, Renan Amamangpang, Gerald Orozco, and Seann Kyle Trapero won the first, second, and third places respectively in the 3 KM category.



The winners... The three in neon orange for 5KM, and the ones on each end for 3KM.

The Run was an enormous gathering of teachers, students, other government employees, and running enthusiasts. All of them came not only to help Dumalan NHS, but also to celebrate the coming of the 306th Annual Fiesta of Dalaguete.



All smiles and making history in this worthy cause, the education stakeholders ran and danced in the Zumba while accumulating a net proceeds of about a hundred thousand. This has met the school’s necessities, and exceeded the expectations of the organizers. The School Head of Dumalan NHS, Ms. Florencia Orozco and Dumalan Brgy. Captain Juanito Ybañez gratefully received the cash proceeds. In a message during the event, Hon. Nikko Cesante thanked those who came and said that the huge number of registrants is “Dalaguete giving back to the community.”



Gun start for 3KM Category


Gun start for 5 KM category

The MGD and the organizers are forever optimistic that the same display of unity during the Dalagan para sa Dumalan NHS would be fostered forever. After all, in Dalaguete, we believe that learners come first. We want our children and young people to enjoy learning, make better progress, and achieve high standards. To do this, relationships need to be established and key players must work well to ensure that Dalaguete schools offer quality facilities, and are sufficiently available, so as to offer choices, good access, and better environment in which to learn.

Christmas Message to Teachers 2016

Dalaguete Public Elementary Schools Teachers’ Association (DAPESTA) honoring of retirees, teachers, and Christmas Party 2016

December 21, 2016 at Blue Pot, Cawayan, Dalaguete

Dr. Eddie Lumayag, PSDS

DAPESTA President, Mrs. Reynes

Principals

Head Teachers

TICs

School Caretakers

And other school heads

Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Maayong buntag kanatong tanan!

My dear teachers, you haven’t aged a day. Your young, beautiful and handsome faces remind me of my childhood in Balud Elementary School… Memories…

The good, the bad, the sad, the happy and the life changing ones.

Naa diri kadtong mga nagtudlo nako ug basa, sulat, estorya sa stage, solve problems, do art, learn to appreciate beauty, do experiments, scouting, and acquire good values…

Naa pud diri kadtong mga nangurit nako… But to be honest, I have taken it positively.. However, things are very different now.

My dear teachers, childhood is the father of all men… What we are today is the product of our experiences when we were still children… As teachers, you are responsible to a great degree for the future of a person. And for that, you are very very important. That is why I chose to be like you, a teacher…

We, at the Municipal Government of Dalaguete are very much delighted for DAPESTA. It is high time that its president, Maam Herminia, will sit with the Municipal Local School Board to represent the Teachers of the Municipality. After all, your part in shaping the future of Dalaguete is indispensable.

As you honor some of your members today along with your celebration of the Season of Joy, we share with you the same feeling of gratitude and happiness. The countless pupils whom you have inspired is the pinnacle of your very existence.

We will always take to heart, that those who taught us in college we remember mostly for what they did for our minds. But those who taught us in elementary school made their marks on our character, our ways of thinking about life, our ambitions, our immortal souls!!!

The best education, is in Dalaguete; and that education is with you teachers of Dalaguete.

Thank you, and Happy Christmas!

Reading for the Filipino

Southeast Area Elementary Readers’ Fest 2015

December 2, 2015

“Be a Responsible Netizen with English.”

Ladies and gentlemen, if I will write this message and just ask you to read it, many of you will remark, “Ok unta imong message sir, taas lang kayo.”

My dear friends, we all have experienced seeing posts on facebook about an announcement of an event or activity where all details—date, venue, and time, have been provided. But still, there’s always someone who would comment: “Kanus a ni?” (Lourd de Veyra, The Word of the Lourd)

What is the problem with this people?

a.    Were they just excited?

b.    The font size was just too small?

c.    Nagpapansin lang?

d.    They cannot read?

e.    But how could they be on Facebook if they do not know how to read? Also, their profiles reveal that they are students.

f.     Is it because we can’t control the urge to react without understanding the message?

Do Filipinos really hate reading?

I’ve read an article before by Arlene Babst-Vokey, the title was “Filipinos are not book lovers.”

She said that in Japan, the bookstore was the most popular feature in every street block, while in the Philippines, instead of bookshop, it was the beauty parlor competing with the sari-sari store.

What could be the reasons for this? Poverty is not the only reason, for even some of the richest Filipinos do not read.

Some other reasons include:

1. Reading requires solitude. We hate solitude. (alone with a book)

2. Reading requires time and patience. We want our entertainment fast and light.

3. Reading involves ideas. We find ideas boring. (personalities not ideas)

4. Reading requires silence. We want to move in herds; we want love songs and dances.

Solitude, time, plus ideas, and then silence? It’s too much.

But you and I need not despair. The National Book Development Board conducted a readership survey in 2012 and the statistics reveal that 88% of Adult Filipinos read. 12% of Adult Filipinos read everyday. 32% read at least once every week. 67% of non-schoolbook readers read Tagalog non-schoolbooks, 50% read non-schoolbooks in English, and 12 % in Cebuano.

The survey also revealed that those who watch TV and internet read more than those who do not watch TV and internet.

91% of non-schoolbook readers say that reading is a great leisure activity.

88% of non-schoolbook readers say that books make excellent gifts.

These figures tell us that we are now becoming a nation of readers.

This event today is one of the ways to promote reading among our students. The task of ensuring that the love of reading is developed in our young is in our hands.

Why should we read?

1. Reading is a way of downloading new software and applications if we were an iphone

2. Reading will enable us to communicate to present and past great thinkers, and learn from them.

3. Reading is life in itself. A person who does not read has no advantage over a person who cannot read. (Mark Twain)

In the movie the Dead Poet’s Society, John Keating said,

“We do not read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read because we are members of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion. This is what we stay alive for.”

My dear children, keep on reading and become great.

Thank you and good morning.