NAGA CITY, Camarines Sur — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte will continue to support and expand programs and projects that uplift the lives of teachers and students.
She also underscored the noble contribution of teachers in honing the minds of schoolchildren and for continuing to perform their duties even during the pandemic during a visit here Saturday (27 Aug 2022).
“Mahalaga kayo sa bansa. Kayo ang susi sa pagbukas ng kaisipan ng ating mga mag-aaral. Nawa’y hindi kayo tumigil sa paghubog at pagkalinga sa mga kabataan (You are important to our country. You are the keys to open the minds of our students. May you continue to mold and take care of the youth),” Duterte said during the 66th Foundation Day of the Department of Education Naga City Teachers and Employees Association (DNACITEA) held in a mall here on Saturday.
“Kayo ang pangalawang liwanag na nasisilayan ng ating mga kabataan sa araw-araw na pagtuturo. Huwag sana kayong mapagod (You are the second light that our young people see everyday you teach them. I hope you will not get tired),” she added.
Duterte praised the teachers for carrying on their mandate that education must continue despite the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.
“During the pandemic, your efforts and honest struggles to withstand uncertainties are priceless. We know that you have weathered through challenges, but true to your advocacy, you have chosen to thrive,” she said before hundreds of teachers and local government leaders who joined the event.
Duterte earlier visited a “last-mile school” in Sitio Lipata, Barangay Gogon in Caramoan to inaugurate the Lipata Elementary School, taking pride in the new two units of one-storey building which provides schoolchildren with six conducive-to-learning classrooms.
Duterte said she saw the efforts of the teaching force to deliver education despite the lack of facilities in the area.
“Nakita ko po ang mga teachers natin doon sa Caramoan at naintindihan ko at napa-intindi nila sa akin ang hirap ng kakulangan ng mga resources natin, both infrastructure and non-infrastructure, pero ako ay nagpapasalamat pa rin dahil hindi kayo nag-gi-give-up sa pagtuturo sa ating mga kabataan (I saw the teachers in Caramoan and I understand and they made me understand the struggle we experience due to lack of resources, both in infrastructure and non-infrastructure, but I am still thankful to you because you didn’t give-up teaching our young people),” she said.
She also vowed to keep her support for the education sector.
“As you continue to employ innovative techniques to pave way for recovery and normalcy, we walk with you. Hindi natin hahayaang masayang ang inyong mga magagandang nasimulan. Magpapatuloy tayo at mas lalo nating palalawigin ang ating mga proyekto at programa para sa mga guro at mga mag-aaral at ng teaching staff ng Department of Education (We will not allow that our beautiful start will be put to waste. We will continue and we will expand our projects and programs for the teachers and the students and the teaching staff of the Department of Education),” she said. (ai/mtvn)
