Nightmares

fill the shortcomings and inefficiencies of our education sector. Furthermore, the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) stated that at least 80% of the 28,859 teacherrespondents reported paying out of pocket for educational expenses, particularly for things like laptops, phones, printers, and internet connections for distance learning. Only 10% claimed that they could not use their own resources.

Teachers are not meant to carry the burden of the gaps brought by inefficiency. Being adaptable and passionate about work does not equate teachers to being undercompensated enslaved people, pulling the extra baggage that is not supposed to be gripped by them from the start. Due to a lack of support staff, the majority of teachers are also given administrative duties to do, including maintenance (54%), clerking (27%), guiding (33%), medical (20%), and feeding program tasks (14%). Moreover, 92% of individuals who carry out non-teaching responsibilities claimed they did not receive any additional pay or load credits.

From those data, it is evident that teachers are aware of the disparity between their workloads and take-home pay; such awareness signifies their cognitive aspects being afflicted and hunted by the domains of misery.

In addition, Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte gave a reason why the salary increase has yet to happen. She said that private schools might not be able to keep up with the range of salaries if public schools grant their teachers such an increase, resulting in private schools losing their teachers.

In contrast with this hypothesis, our private school teachers seem not interested in applying to our public schools but rather choose to join the emerging diaspora of professionals, making our country suffer from brain drain. Their literal movement of

Second Home They Say

There has always been a saying that a school is our second home and teachers are our second mothers and fathers. It is supposed to be our haven, our safe refuge when we are away from our homes. But what happens when our so-called second home becomes a place of fear, abuse, and helplessness? What happens when our so-called second mothers and fathers become perpetrators of the unthinkable?

Recently, five teachers suspected of sexually abusing students in Cavite were preemptively suspended for 90 days by the Department of Education (DepEd) after administrative charges were filed against them after DepEd’s preliminary investigation.

As a pre-service educator, it sends a shiver down my spine to imagine how some teachers could sexually abuse helpless students who unquestioningly obeyed them because they trusted them. As I was reading through the Twitter thread, the very thread that prompted an investigation from the authorities, I could not imagine the fear that these students experienced at the hands of their perpetrators.

At the filthy hands of the people that sent them creepy text messages after class and at the very same hands that gave them unwelcome and uncomfortable touches in the classroom. Reading the disturbing messages sent by the teacher, asking his student to be his “kabit,” or his secret lover, I can’t help but get furious. These kinds of teachers aren’t just committing dastardly acts; they are tarnishing the noble profession of teaching and the good image of what a teacher is supposed to be.

Teachers are students’ role models.

going overseas is the psychomotor domain we would never want to occur.

Randy Ubal, 27, a private school teacher featured by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, was forced to leave the Philippines for Thailand to support his family. Since the late 2000s, Filipinos have frequently traveled to Thailand in search of better opportunities.

Kim Pangilinan, 25, departed for Thailand because the working conditions were far better than in the Philippines, claiming that he has a lower teaching load but is still paid better.

It is safe to say that it is not a tug-of-war between public and private schools anymore but rather a competition of opportunities that the Philippines has against much better offers our neighboring countries have for Filipino teachers, and it looks like we are slowly losing the tight grip.

With this year’s Teachers’ Month, may we never celebrate nor romanticize the sacrifices our teachers make to fill the government’s shortcomings but instead eagerly alleviate such. Words of gratitude alone cannot conceal the cracks in their affective walls. Tacit disparity between workloads and takehome pay dictates their cognitive domains that they deserve better. The departures of Filipino teachers are the psychomotor abilities that drain the hope left for our country’s youth.

The conditions of our teachers are the finest indicators of the state of our education. Improving their working circumstances is crucial and fundamental for us to recover from the alarming learning crisis, and such improvements entail salary-increases, fewer add-on workloads, and greater opportunities.

The nightmarish treatment against teachers is tantamount to the fate of our education; it is our clarion call to challenge the status quo that submerges our educators, or else domains of misery will continue to hunt them down and, eventually, our future where dreams could still be nightmares.

A block to self-expression

Many of us dress in clothes that make us feel comfortable. Freely wearing makeup, any kind of footwear, bags, accessories, and hairstyles—any kind of style we want— as long as we express ourselves and fit the standard of being a man or woman, but how about those who are stuck between the two? especially now that we’re back to face-to-face meetings. Again, there’s this set rule that boys with long hair are required to cut it out or else they will be disobeying the rule, which has direct consequences, which I think is a breach of our freedom to express ourselves.

In our society, we are used to this kind of setup. But we are blind to the standard, unseeing those people who are struggling, reminding themselves that it is okay even if it is not because they do not have any choice but to follow the set rules. These unseen emotions were felt by many people rather than just one. They are forced to cut the ties that connect them to their true identity.

Moreover, discrimination against the LGBT community is rampant. According to the United Nations (UN) study, 30% of LGBT people in our country reported being harassed, bullied, or discriminated against while at work, which clearly shows that their community is not fully accepted.

Thus, embracing them can start at school in many simple ways, just like eliminating the “Haircut Policy,” which was met with many reactions online. Most people reacted positively to the fact that we are now openly accepting the third gender, but unfortunately, not everyone is ready to embrace this situation. I also remembered that I had observed this occurrence back before the pandemic hit. Some were unconcerned and simply laughed it off; others didn’t care, while some are proud of how their clean appearance suits their preferences. Again, unseeing are those

Above Below

They are supposed to serve as examples for students, as they hold immense influence over them. With this influence, they hold a large responsibility; all of their actions should be done with honor and dignity, as students look up to them and trust them easily. With this trust, they are supposed to provide students with a safe and comfortable learning environment.

However, some teachers have used this trust to create an entirely different environment, where they were able to commit deceitful acts, cloaked under the guise of their profession, perpetrated against the very people they are charged to educate and care for, their students.

Studies have proven that there is a high prevalence of sexual abuse in the Philippines.

Findings of the 2016 National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children (NBS-VAC) revealed that 21.5 percent of the respondents, or approximately one in five children, have experienced sexual abuse, with 5.3 percent of these cases being committed in schools. And it has been said that most victims do not disclose or report these instances of abuse because their perpetrators are persons of authority, making victims suffer in silence.

In the case of sexual abuse committed in schools, it is the school’s responsibility to take immediate action upon reports of said instances. One of the provisions in Republic Act 11313, most commonly known as the Safe Spaces Act, specifically in Article V, Section 21, actually obligates schools to designate an officer-in-charge to receive complaints regarding violations of this Act, adopt and publish grievance procedures to facilitate the filing of complaints, and take appropriate steps to resolve the situation through a proper investigation, immediate action to eliminate the same acts, prevent their recurrence, and address their effects. people who prefer long hair as it is what their hearts want, the so-called “their kind of style.”

However, this obligation seems to be neglected by some schools, as it isn’t properly observed and implemented. As a result, students have to resort to social media, like in the case presented above, to garner the attention of the authorities, as they feel that their schools are not listening to their concerns or are not taking them seriously.

It is about time that schools step up their game in the battle against sexual abuse, especially in cases committed by their hired teachers whom they have admitted to their respective educational institutions. To ensure the swift delivery of justice, sexual abuse matters brought to the attention of schools must be resolved in a clear, proactive, and quick way to protect their students. Schools must ensure a safe environment for all students, as it is their responsibility.

Parents send their children to school with relief, knowing that they will be going to a place where they can be safe and that they’ll be going to their second home. But how can students consider a place where they are abused as their second home? Because once a school fails to protect their students inside the premises against abuse, it cannot be called that child’s home anymore, it becomes a scene of the crime—a place where a child remembers their helplessness in the hands of their perpetrator.

Probably, the haircut policy molds students to be law-abiding citizens, to build discipline, and to comply. But isn’t it unfair? that men and women go out with full self-esteem, being content with how they look but degrading what the third gender wants for themselves. Isn’t it much better to allow and accept them fully, as such actions don’t totally affect their academics? In fact, one of the most famous people in human history, Albert Einstein, also had this socalled “wild hair,” but despite his hairstyle, he still created and proposed numerous ideas, which we are still benefiting from today. So, we are now in modern times, and I think giving individuals the opportunity to express their gender identity in any style that they want is a step closer to equality because it is not limited to men and women. Equality must be for all. According to the Equality Act (2010), one must not be discriminated against because their identity is different from the sex assigned to them when they were born.

Hence, other administrations as well as individuals must have another outlook on this concern. They must let go and give a chance to those who muster up all their courage to go out as who they really are.

Just like how other Department of Education’s region directors support gender equality, equity, and sensitivity as based on DepEd Order No. 32 series of 2017.

Thus, the school must stop implementing this policy, and a haircut must not be the basis of “looking clean”. Standards must not hinder someone from freely expressing who they are. Having the opportunity to be themselves is what they wanted and supporting them will never lessen our worth as a man or woman.

The Official Publication of Students of the Philippine Normal University North Luzon

EDITORIAL BOARD AND STAFF 2021-2022

Editor-in-Chief

Yerica Hannah D. Ramos

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Erenio D. Baltazar Jr.

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Celine C. Jade Remocal

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Jimuel C. Sagario

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Wendel A. Andres

Huwaran is such a lovely word, mostly for teachers, whose jobs are the noblest of all professions. But in the seesaw of life, it shifts from a high point to a low one, where balance seems irredeemable, yet their reputations are compelled to be aloft to all extents.

In this struggle, it seems like there has been a more persistent virus than COVID-19 that has been spreading across this conservative country till this very day—repressing teachers to live a life in terms they like. It is futile to conclude that having a life and having fun outside of school would make you less of a teacher and a professional. Stumbling upon a post of a teacher on vacation wearing ‘offduty’ clothes that received tons of backlash made me say so.

According to the Civil Service Commission’s (CSC) legal opinion, uploading photos on social media of government employees wearing a swimsuit at the beach does not violate the administrative crime of shameful and immoral conduct. Neither does it breach the principle under Code of Ethics Article 11, Section 3 for teachers.

Teachers’ job is to teach and portray good behavior, which should include teaching that wearing those clothes does not mean that educators are less deserving of any respect. What happens if we do not instill these ideas in the youth and instead, we condone minds to think ill? It beggars belief. Teaching already chalked its way out from traditional view, now is the time to educate others to respect rather than disgrace people, particularly in the digital world, where values and social interactions are in flux like never before and where these old-fashioned perspectives are most visible.

Moreover, it takes time to adjust to the demands of teaching because it is a demanding profession. Even though it is rewarding, it can also be emotionally taxing. So, how can a little night out after blood-, sweat-, and tears-filled days hurt when Article 2, Section 3 clearly states that only excesses and illicit relations of such nature must be avoided at all times to maintain honor and dignity?

I think it is safe to affirm that professionalism does not solely entail wearing a collar, tie, and a head held up high. Also, it is about fulfilling a career in an orderly and dependable manner, gaining respect by acting respectfully, and certainly, not hurting anyone. As mundane as it may sound, what more could a human ask for?

Teachers are held to a high standard in the community. Giving them a little space to breathe in their tiny ways would help in maintaining the merit everyone has set. Their teaching lays the groundwork for life, so they should not be shamed as if having a personal life is a Cardinal sin in being the role models we knew them to be. If so, then teachers are nothing but saints on strings, confined to the provision of what others think as acceptable, which should not be, because after all, they are, we all are, just humans with a longing for fun and respite. Despite the conundrum of hows in these events, I remain stubbornly optimistic about it. Fate has always surprised its skeptics, and I have no doubt it is about to do so again.

Little by little, huwaran becomes a word that the principle factory of a prospective teacher like me teases to achieve in ways sought not in haste but in an uprising to shatter and cleanse the dormancy of actually being one who can still live life while leading another. It may not be the peak, but at least it is above below.

Dwyght Q. Infante

Edsel T. Duran

Erma B. Galasinao

Flocy Mae B. Fernandez

Jake S. Aganon

Jezer M. Cornejo

Joyce O. Acapuyan

Leidi Julienne M. Pagulayan

Maricris S. Cariazo

Reywalsh M. Cornejo

Sheila F. Pavo

Mike B. Mariano

JUNIOR STAFF

Dan Lester L. Estavillo

Desiree A. Cuaresma

Eloisa B. Legaspi

Frederick B. Galande

Gen Zayb M. Borromeo

Haidi P. Peralta

Junelle Uriel B. Dulay

Muel Mark L. Bueno

Precious Ann D. Millan

Vera Jewel C. Lacerna

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Josie Jordan Rosete